Ants not accepting food.

[AntOblivion]

So my C. Pennsylvanicus colony has about 5 workers and one ready to enclose. So these ants, and actually all my ants don't accept the food I give them. I've tried feed them various fruits and proteins like peanut butter ect.. They won't aceept it. The only food I can ever get them to eat is honey. Peanut butter will have been sitting in the tube for hours and the second i remove it and place honey they devour it. I'd also like to know even when the whole colony is fed the workers are still constantly biting at the cotton, why is this?

Here's some pictures
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_IP5zcx-8DjQ0l2ckpLNmpZYVJQc2xuTlVKdS1Pa2RJZFZR

[Jadeninja9]

Well you gotta feed them things they eat in the wild instead of human food. Pretty sure they'll more often than not accept insects like mealworms, crickets, spiders etc.

[AntOblivion]

Well you gotta feed them things they eat in the wild instead of human food. Pretty sure they'll more often than not accept insects like mealworms, crickets, spiders etc.

Well that's the complicated part, my mom wants nothing to do with the insects. I told her it needs to be this way and she won't allow it but im convincing her so it is a possibility

[Jadeninja9]

Oh. Well, yeah idk then lol. Maybe you could kill the insects you find around your house without your mom knowing, then feed it to your ants lol. Except if you live in an agricultural area, the insects may have pesticides and you could be giving your ants pesticides.

[carsonman99]

We have a lot of house flies and I just smack them when they're buzzing on the window and place them in my formica's out world and they took the whole thing in and ate it over a period of a week. Saves the effort of going out and buying or hunting for wild insects.

[AntOblivion]

Oh. Well, yeah idk then lol. Maybe you could kill the insects you find around your house without your mom knowing, then feed it to your ants lol. Except if you live in an agricultural area, the insects may have pesticides and you could be giving your ants pesticides.

I live in a Suburb so if i find a random fly i can kill it and feed it to them?

[Jadeninja9]

If there is no agricultural stuff happening within about a 25 mile radius from you, then your good.

[carsonman99]

You could also put the fly in the freezer for a little bit to kill anything on it (if you wanna be extra careful)

[AntOblivion]

If there is no agricultural stuff happening within about a 25 mile radius from you, then your good.

Well in illinois there is a lot of abandoned road construction...

[AntOblivion]

You could also put the fly in the freezer for a little bit to kill anything on it (if you wanna be extra careful)

how long would you say?