Gel ant farms are extremely cruel for ants and don't provide the ants with what they need and deserve. Having them in a gel farm can stress that due to high amounts of light. Ants rely heavily on pheromones to communicate with members of the colony. The gel ant farms smell blinds the ants and sometimes even makes the ants dizzy from the heavy smell. The ants put into the farms are usually harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex barbatus). These ants are separated from their home colonies and shipped out to customers who buy them. This is extremely cruel due to the ants not smelling or having their queen. Without her, the workers have no one to take care of and tend to. Most stores say to not feed the ants as they will automatically feed on the gel. This is not true as adult ants cannot digest solid foods or gels without the help of their larvae. So in reality the ants starve themselves in the farm.