From Beehive to Ant Colony: Meet Stef Vleminckx

On a drizzly afternoon in Mariekerke, two worlds stand side by side in the garden of Stef Vleminckx: a row of beehives and a table full of ant colonies. For most people an unusual combination. For Stef, the most normal thing in the world.

It started when he was eight

Stef was eight years old when he put his first Lasius niger queen in a little container. Not bought, but caught himself. He followed her closely, watched her lay eggs, saw the first workers appear and watched something grow that he could not yet name but already fully understood: a colony.

"After school I always went straight to check on the progress of the colonies", he says. He kept some in his room and later released others in the garden. Besides Lasius niger he also caught Lasius flavus queens. A small start, but with big eyes.

At eleven he added beekeeping. A logical step, he says. His interest in insects was already so broad that bees came naturally.

Two superorganisms, one perspective

More than forty years later, Stef is still fascinated by the same thing that grabbed him as a child. "Their behaviour as a superorganism: the division of labour, the care for the brood and the queen, how so many individuals can form one whole. That keeps fascinating me."

For him, bees and ants are not two separate hobbies but two windows on the same world. Still, he sees the differences clearly. A bee colony explodes in spring: at her peak the queen lays a huge number of eggs a day and the colony bursts at the seams within weeks. By midsummer it is already shrinking again. An ant colony grows more slowly, but it does not stop. It keeps building, year after year.

People often assume his beekeeping experience helped him with ants, but Stef turns that around. "Actually it is the other way round. Studying ants has helped me with beekeeping. I always try to find traits I see in ants back in the behaviour of the bees."

Costa Rica: bullet ants and leafcutters

Asked about his most unforgettable moment with ants, Stef does not need long. It was not at home but in Costa Rica. A colony of bullet ants up close, and a little further on leafcutter ants at work in the rainforest: neat rows of workers, each with a piece of leaf above its head, tirelessly heading back to the nest.

So it is no surprise that an Atta colony is at the top of his wish list. "I am just afraid I would not have enough time for it during the bee season", he says honestly. "And a species like that deserves the care it needs."

Messor, Camponotus and a drone cloud

At home Stef currently keeps Messor barbarus, Messor capitatus and Camponotus nicobarensis: a nice mix of harvester ants and carpenter ants. Over the years the bees have given him plenty of unforgettable moments too, such as a drone cloud: a swarm of drones chasing a queen during her mating flight. "That was quite special", he says, with a smile that makes clear special is an understatement.

Jaws drop

When Stef tells people he keeps ants, someone regularly pulls a strange face. People understand bees. Ants? That is something else. But as soon as he shows the colonies and starts talking about them, the reaction turns around completely.

"People like to see larger animals, but they sometimes find insects annoying. Until you start talking about them, then their jaws often drop at the beautiful things they show." Bees have been kept for thousands of years and give honey, propolis and wax, so people recognise their value. Ants do not have that story in society yet, but Stef is convinced it is coming.

The foundation of nature

If you ask Stef for one message to people who are still hesitating, it is simple: start.

"It is such a vast world and there is so much to experience and learn. I would recommend it to everyone."

To him, insects are the foundation of nature. Not the most spectacular animals when you look at them one by one, but as a system, as a superorganism, as the quiet engine of the ecosystem: irreplaceable. And endlessly fascinating for anyone who really starts looking.

Stef Vleminckx is a beekeeper and ant keeper from Mariekerke (Antwerp, Belgium) and runs BEEWORLD. Want to read another keeper portrait? Meet Kimmy and Kevin from Lanaken.