Carpenter Ants -a resourceful bunch

There is one ant that is harder to go unnoticed than the rest and that is the carpenter ant because of its size. Around these parts they are typically 5/8 inches in length or larger. Like all types of ants, they depend on food, water and a place to call home. This ant with wings means it is able to fly off and be involved in starting another colony.
One day I noticed a few carpenter ants foraging in the kitchen and decided to take the time to follow their progress and see if I could find out where they were coming from. Typically ants locate the food source, collect it and then exit at some location near a door or at the base molding of a wall.  This time they were heading towards a large wooden table in the kitchen that was made from the hatch covers of  WWII liberty ships.

Upon further observation they disappeared into a void in a piece of plywood that was holding together the sections of hatch covers making up the top of the table. So they had their food and a place to call home. The next part was equally interesting. Some of the ants exiting the plywood void headed to the top surface of the table where there was a potted plant. There these ants were collecting little sponge-like pellets in this potted plant's soil which had absorb moisture from when the plant was watered.

The ants then proceeded to carry these tiny wet sponges into the table top void.  They had their water source using the potted plant as their own private oasis which I was replenishing once a week. I was unknowingly the ants waiter that continually filled their water glass.
Needless to say it was a fun discovery for me and the end of the line for these resourceful ants.

---Ken