Mini Hearth (Type III) is our standard-sized founding formicaria, good for raising queens of most species from a founding stage up to young colonies with 50-100 workers (more for some smaller-medium sized species).  

As of Summer 2021 we have added a new material type for some of our Mini Hearths, vermiculite.  This addition is actually nothing new from Tar Heel Ants, just new for Mini Hearths and many of our other formicaria, also.  Back in 2011 when we got our start making formicaria, vermiculite was the material we began using with our first formicaria ever.  Since then we have used it in the Devolve Chamber and the Genesis Inserts for raising ants, as well as the Woodland substrate in our foraging areas.

 Vermiculite has properties that make it a great material for raising ants we think, and some of our best colonies ever have been kept in these formicaria for years (see some of our early YouTube videos).  We recommend trying these out when available on these pages, and they will be options later as part of the standard ordering pages.

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