A sweet, tempting scent drifted through the air. It was so strong that even Ferdie the ant, who was diligently polishing his antennae, caught a whiff. “It smells… it smells like a thousand strawberries at once!” he exclaimed excitedly, waving his antennae so wildly that he almost lost his balance on a blade of grass. Immediately, more little heads swarmed out of the anthill. “I smell honey!” chirped little Miss Eliza the ant. “And I smell sweet syrup,” added thoughtful Mikey, who was just drawing a map of the area in the sand with a twig. Elder Agatha, the wisest ant lady in the entire anthill, cleared her throat gravely. “The scouts report treasure! Not far from the humans’ picnic blanket, white sugar has been spilled. It’s a huge mountain of sweets! But be warned, the path to it is not simple.”
All the little ants fell silent with curiosity. “We must find the best path,” Agatha continued. “A fast and safe one. Each of you who goes searching will leave our secret ant message behind you. It’s an invisible, scented trail called a pheromone. The others can then follow it. Whoever finds the path to the sugar will return, and their trail will lead us to the treasure.”
This was a job for Ferdie! Without a second thought, he set off first. “I’ll find it!” he shouted and plunged into the thick grass, which for him was like a tall rainforest. Eliza and Mikey looked at each other. “Let’s wait a moment and see what happens,” suggested cautious Eliza.
Ferdie ran and ran. All around him grew huge green pillars – blades of grass. Suddenly, he saw a great obstacle ahead. A huge, smooth stone, as big as their entire anthill. “That’s nothing,” Ferdie told himself. “I’ll go around it!” And so he set off on a long detour around the stone. The journey was long, and Ferdie grew tired, but he diligently left his scented trail behind him. Finally, he saw the white, sparkling hill. The sugar! He quickly grabbed one crystal crumb and hurried back along his long path.
Meanwhile, Mikey had also set out to explore. He decided to climb over the stone. It was a difficult climbing expedition. The surface was slippery, the walls steep. Mikey slipped several times and tumbled down. “Never mind, I’ll try again!” he told himself and kept climbing. He left his pheromone trail behind him, but the journey was slow and arduous. He, too, eventually reached the sugar mountain, took his piece, and started back.
Finally, Eliza joined the search. She examined the stone carefully. She noticed something the boys had missed in their haste. A small, narrow crack in the ground led directly under the stone. It was an almost straight path! “What if I can get through here?” she whispered to herself and carefully slipped into the dark crevice. It was a short, direct passageway. A few seconds later, she was on the other side of the stone, right in front of the sugar mountain. “Hooray!” she rejoiced. She took a crystal and zipped back through the same short path to the anthill.
Interesting things were happening in front of the anthill. The other ants were waiting for a signal. Suddenly, they smelled three different scented trails. One led on a long detour, the second seemed broken and faint, and the third was straight and very strong. “Which way should we go?” they asked one another. Just then, a breathless Eliza ran up. “This way! I found a shortcut!” Right behind her, a tired Ferdie returned. And a moment later, a weary Mikey.
Eliza didn’t wait and immediately turned back for another piece of sugar. She ran her short path back and forth again. By the time Ferdie and Mikey had managed to return just once, Eliza was already back for the second time and immediately running for a third. “Children, have you noticed something?” asked Elder Agatha, who had been watching everything. “Try smelling the three paths again.”
The little ants obeyed. Ferdie’s long trail was faint. Mikey’s difficult trail was also weak. But Eliza’s trail was getting stronger and stronger each time. “Why is that?” wondered Ferdie. Eliza smiled. “Because I’ve traveled my path three times already! And each time, I added a new layer of scent. Your path is long, so you only had time to reinforce it once.” “And mine was so difficult that I could barely keep going,” added Mikey.
“Exactly!” nodded Elder Agatha. “The most ants will travel the shortest and easiest path in the shortest amount of time. That’s why the pheromone trail is strongest there. It’s like a signpost shouting: THIS IS THE BEST WAY!”
The other ants no longer hesitated. As one, they all set off along the strong, scented trail that Eliza had created. Soon, a perfect ant highway was formed. One stream of ants headed towards the sugar, while another stream returned with the loot. They worked quickly and in an organized fashion. The scent on the other, less advantageous paths, slowly faded away because no one used them anymore.
In the evening, when the entire sugar treasure was safely in the anthill’s chambers, Ferdie, Eliza, and Mikey sat together, enjoying their sweet reward. “We learned something amazing today,” said Ferdie. “It’s not enough just to run. You have to think, too.” “And cooperate,” added Eliza. “We would never have built that highway without the others.” “And most importantly, never give up, even if something doesn’t work out the first time,” smiled Mikey, showing them his new map. This time, it showed the best path to the sweet treasures, drawn with perfect accuracy.
What do you think, children? The next time you see ants marching in a line outside, will you remember their secret, scented highway? Try to look on your next walk and see if their path doesn't take the shortest route around a stone or a puddle.