Founding stage
Keep the founding tube. Push it into Scout.
The stage stays in the tube
A founding queen has her own water and her own dark. Do not take her out of it. A new nest is not an improvement while she has no workers.
The test tube and cotton, $6 is optional spare equipment; both Scouts include their own 16 mm tube. Replace dirty cotton and maintain drinking water. See the watering guide.
The Scout takes the tube
The Scout V1, $24, accepts a 16 mm test tube as it is. You push the tube in. You do not move the queen.
Once her first workers are out, the tube goes into the Scout and the workers have a nest to explore. That timing matches the path on the home page.
No dump and move
Nothing here asks you to tip ants from one container to another. The tube is the nest until the colony fills the Scout.
Read the moving guide before the next step. The colony crosses on its own when the old space is dry and the new one is damp.
The next nest
When the Scout is full, the next room is the Founder, $42. It joins the Scout with a Scout Riser and a Link. The Scout can stay linked as the queen's chamber.
You can buy it when you need it. Nothing in the Scout has to be replaced.
Before the first workers
Keep the tube somewhere steady and out of direct sun. The heating guide covers warmth. Check the cotton and leave her alone.
No queen yet? Read how to catch one. We do not sell live ants.
Where this fits
This is the first step in Start here. If you are new, the beginner page is the shorter version. The full range is on the formicarium page.