Foraging Habits

[Boomdale]

I have what may be an odd question but since it’s my first colony I don’t really know what to expect.
For new/smaller colonies, do the ants only forage when they need food? I am currently up to 10 workers along with my queen. All the brood seems to be growing well. My question really stems from the fact that when I first put honey in, they were coming out often. When I put protien in a couple days ago, they were all over it. They dragged some pieces into the tube and haven’t really come out since. Is this normal that they only come out occasionally?
I have a heat lamp slightly on them and the feeding area so I don’t know if the honey can get too warm, if that’s even a thing, or if it can get too hard to be of use. I think I’m just having first child worries

[CampoKing]

When you have only 6-12 workers, they'll eat their fill then live off of that food for a couple days. It's actually acceptable to give them food every other day instead of daily when the colony is that small.