Larry Pinto Pest Control Columnist Ant colony organization varies greatly from species to species. Some species have a single nest, others have multiple nests and some, such as carpenter ants, can have a primary nest plus smaller satellite nests containing workers and brood.
Some ant colonies contain millions of workers, while others have only hundreds or dozens.
Some form new colonies by swarming, some by budding and some by both. Ants that have a single queen and a single nest, and that form new colonies through swarming, tend to be easier to control than those species of ants having multiple queens that form new colonies by budding. Multiple-queen, opportunistic ants are a different story. They evolved to quickly take advantage of short-lived, patchy or scarce resources. Such ants can be tough to control.