By mid-afternoon, the sun penetrates through their south-facing windows and the indoor temperature can easily reach 75 degrees without much help from the heat from the ground. Dad keeps the fire going longer on cloudy days, sometimes with the help of enthusiastic grandchildren.

All of these cozy flames require a good supply of firewood.

So, within minutes of arriving home for Thanksgiving, I found myself by the old barn helping my dad start the log splitter. Always concerned with protecting people’s hearing, he gave me a set of earmuffs to match his.

One by one, we lifted cartridges one to two feet in diameter onto the platform, and I watched as he guided the splitter through the grain of the wood. Piece after piece came off and fell on the grass. I loaded my guns and carried them to the pile.

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Having my little one at his disposal, dad passed the smaller logs (Mom could help with those later) and focused on some of the larger circles at the bottom of the trunk or where a branch had diverged to form a Y. It was a red elm, he told me, a wood much denser than the American elm, which it leaves standing for woodpecker habitat.

After hoisting a particularly large chunk over the divider, I hovered nearby to grab half of it as it pulled apart. With the slow force of the wedge, a section of a tree opened like a book, and revealed another civilization.

It might be too dramatic, but the intricate catacombs carpenter ants carved out were quite impressive. I lowered the split log to the ground and examined it more closely. Several cavities were filled with shiny black bodies, and as I disturbed them unique individuals emerged.

The first was a large ant with wings. A queen, I supposed. Carpenter ant colonies can have more than one queen, although they are not friendly with each other.

The other odd individual was smaller than most, but also had a pair of long, shimmering wings extending beyond his abdomen. It was probably a male. Drone ants only enter the scene when the colony is ready to breed. They hatch from unfertilized eggs, mate with a new queen from another colony, and die. The observation has been made that they do not have a father – only the queen gives them her genetic information – but they do have a grandfather, as the queen was born from a fertilized egg.

But Wikipedia reports that nuptial flights – when drones mate with new queens so they can start new colonies – occur when it is hot and humid. This is not how I would describe November in Iowa. So why would there be guys hanging out in the colony?

And why haven’t I seen clusters of little white eggs? It turns out that carpenter ants build both primary nests and satellite nests. Primary nests house queens and eggs and require high humidity so that the eggs do not dry out. Older larvae, pupae and worker ants can manage life in drier satellite nests.

This smaller winged carpenter ant is probably a male drone. Contribution / Emily Stone

Both types of nests are dug in dead or dying trees. Carpenter ants do not eat wood, but they do make their way through the soft, wide parts of growth rings formed during rapid spring growth. The more dense “late wood” is left for the walls. The tunnels between the rings allow easy movement and add to the lace quality of the galleries.

The work of ants is important for decomposition in the forest. Not only does their sawdust waste easily return to the ground, but their galleries multiply the surface area available for things like fungi and bacteria that can actually digest wood.

If wood is not part of their diet, what is it? Foragers in a colony often go out at night in search of insects, whether alive or dead. They will extract the bodily juices from the insects and bring that nutrition back to the colony, leaving the exoskeleton behind. Some species also join the “breeding” of aphids for their honeydew. When aphids suck juices from plants, they excrete excess sugar water. In exchange for this carbonated drink, the ants keep away aphid eaters like ladybugs. Bacteria in ants’ intestines can help them make additional amino acids.

In preparation for winter diapause, ants gain up to 50% body fat and increase their glycerol content as an antifreeze. They also snuggle up in their galleries. All of these habits make it the favorite food of tall woodpeckers, who are quite willing to make their way through pretty massive woods to access these fatty, sweet, and concentrated treats.

By fueling the metabolism of birds, the ants themselves are just as important to the winter heat in nature as the logs they live in are to the cozy fires of humans.

Emily’s award-winning second book, “Natural Connections: Dreaming of an Elfin Skimmer”, is now available for purchase at www.cablemuseum.org/books and also in your local independent bookstore.

For over 50 years, the Cable Natural History Museum has served as your connection to the Northwoods. The museum is now open with our exciting exhibition “The mysteries of the night”. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and cablemuseum.org to see what we’re doing.