Renee Hawkins, age 8, of Clover, South Carolina for her question:

What do ants do in the winter?

In the ant world, the busy season ends before the first winter frost. Ants lose their peppy energy in cold weather, but even the icy frost does not kill them. In fact, some people say that ants can be frozen through the winter months and come back to life is the spring. In any case, in late fall the busy little workers gather together and find themselves a cozy place to spend the winter. Those that nest in ant hills dig deeper tunnels, down where maybe the frost will not reach them.

Sometimes they find winter shelter in a fallen log or a hollow tree. Wherever they go, the busy bugs huddle close together. They lock their skinny legs together and wad themselves in a tight ball. Maybe the frost reaches the ones on the outside and covers them with ice. But when spring comes back to the world, the ice melts and the tiny sleepers wake up and start their busy duties. Worker ants may live through seven winter seasons; the queen mother lives 15 years or more.