Joseph Glatz, age 8, of Libertyville, Illinois, for his question:

Do ants freeze in winter?

Ants live together in very large family groups called colonies. Thousands of them share a nest and every little job is done in perfect order. The queen mother lays all the ant eggs. Most of the other members of the family are worker ants    who never fail to do their chores. They tend the babies, gather food, clean the nest, build new rooms and dozens of other duties. And they do ail things to look after each other.

One little ant could not survive by herself, summer or winter. But she lives in a nest and shares her life with thousands of other ants. And they all work together to look after each other. In the cold winter weather, one lonely little ant would freeze to death. This does not happen because thousands of worker ants dig down another three feet or more. They build new tunnels and tiny rooms down where the frost cannot reach them. Then the whole family moves downstairs, where they keep warm and stay rather quiet until the busy spring season.