It's using the term as in definitions #2-3 (particularly 3b) here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colony https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

It's using the term as in definitions #2-3 (particularly 3b) here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colony https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colony, not #1. They mean colony as in "a colony of ants", not the political structure.