How to make an ant vacuum using a DeWalt corded/cordless shop vacuum.

First, start with a DeWalt corded/cordless shop vacuum. OK, OK, enough goofing around—the corded/cordless shop vac is about $100 at Home Depot, the store for the urban naturalist. I have a small shop so I use the shop vac there and I already have several 18 volt cordless tools already so I did not need to buy a battery, sold separately, nor a charger for the battery, also sold separately. A battery is $89 and the charger is $69. This adds up fast, but I walked in on the deal of the century last week when Home Depot had a drill/charger/two 18 volt battery combo pak on sale for $99. Since I use 18 volt tools anyway it was a bonanza for me. Plus a manly carrying case that just shouts Studly Power Tool User. Yeah, baby—how you doin’?

Now, there is this international body of experts that I suspect no one ever really sees called the International Standards Organization, or ISO. They are the folks who put standard values on film speeds (the ISO number), and decide that all desks must be 29 inches or whatever off the floor, all beds must be a certain length, doors certain standard dimensions, etc. I have heard complaints about the ISO to the effect that the world does not need somebody telling us all how big our bathtubs should be, or how far apart our shirt buttons belong, but standardization does come in handy when ant collecting, among other things.

In a world where so much fits into so much else regardless of manufacturer intentions, it so happens that there is a lovely little PVC part called a reducing trap adapter in the one and one-half inch diameter that fits snugly over the end of the hose on the shop vac. The threaded collar of the trap adapter is the part that fits over the end of the hose where the vacuum attachments fit. Integrated into the trap adapter is a collar that accepts a 1 ½ inch PVC pipe. Now we have a PVC collar snugly mounted to the vacuum hose to which we can attach all manner of infrastructure. Are we excited yet? I took a length of 1 ½ inch PVC pipe and stretched a bit of mosquito net over one end, trapping it in place with a PVC coupler used to join two lengths of pipe. No glue, just dry fit. The coupler has a receptacle for another length of PVC below the end that’s attached to the screened pipe. That receptacle receives a short length of PVC fitted into the collar attached to the reducing trap adapter on the end of the suction hose to the vacuum. What we now have is a tubular chamber with a screen bottom that is an extension of the vacuum hose, like an attachment. Or….ant-tachment—hah! I just crack myself up sometimes…..

The point, and I do have one, is that the ants never enter the vacuum cleaner, or get caught in the ribbed hose. They stay in the PVC collection assembly above the screen. The whole PVC collection assembly—pipe, screen, coupler, is removed from the short pipe above the reducing adapter once the collection assembly is full of ants. As you turn off the vacuum cleaner, just slip a PVC cap over the open end of the collection assembly and voila! (That’s French—classy, no?) You have a delightful wad (that’s Bronx—classy? Not so much.) of live, really angry ants which I strongly recommend you do not sniff. Not that you would, but a snootful of Formic Acid will leave you fully committed to never sniffing a jar of ants again. And I know this……how……?

Just put a fresh collection assembly onto the end of the adapter assembly and you’re ready to suck more ants to your heart’s content…..uh…..hmmmm…. Well—you know what I mean. I drilled a few very small holes in the short PVC pipe leading from the adapter assembly to the collection assembly. The holes are to allow some air to get pulled in below the collection assembly, reducing the intensity of suction in the collection chamber to avoid mangling the ants from too much suction. If you decide to drill holes and make too many, just put a piece of tape over the ones you don’t need to adjust the suction pressure in the collection assembly. I made the collection assemblies short enough to fit into a mini-cooler I carry into the field so the freshly sucked ants will cool off quickly and not die on the way back to the car. Once there, they all go into the BIG cooler until they are sleepy enough to be dumped into a larger, vented holding container. Lots of venting and nice, dry containers will prevent your ants from gassing themselves to death and also from suffocating due to moisture adhering to their bodies while they are chilled and unable to groom themselves to keep their spiracles clear. Bad enough to get sucked up—if you can’t keep your spiracles clear then I just don’t know what.

It’s a chunk o’ change but for anyone who can afford it or already has DeWalt 18 volt tools and a need for an ant vacuum this is a way to go, IMO. The 18 volt battery is a beast and lasts a lot longer than I do in the warm sunshine. I bet lots of other cordless vacuum hoses would fit some kind of PVC attachment so if you already have an ant vac it’s likely you can come up with some version of this system, but the main thing is to avoid having to dump ants out of a vacuum cleaner or clear them out of a hose. Happy sucking.

Yes, I did say that.

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