Ant barrier problems

[AntGalMN]

Hi,

Recently I had a Formica colony that was over two dozen strong. I put their test tube in a plastic food storage container with a barrier of a alcohol and baby powder mixer. After a while a couple of the ants that were wandering out for food started to move very irregularly. I was worried , and my fears were made real when half the colony died over night. I quickly sealed of all of the colony back in the tube, but it was too late. I am thinking that I must have added too much alcohol to the barrier and the ants were walking weird because they became "drunk" off the alcohol and died. However, I've never heard of this happening before, can someone help me figure out what happened so that I can prevent it happening again.

[JoeHostile1]

Was it a proper test tube filled with water?

[AntGalMN]

Yes, They were given plenty of access to fresh water via test tube