47 replies to this topic

[drtrmiller]

"Formula Blue 100" has been permanently discontinued. A new "Blue" product is in development that uses protein derived entirely from fresh insects.

Until then, please feed your ants insects and Sunburst Ant Nectar.

Edited by drtrmiller, April 24 2017 - 10:02 AM.

[drtrmiller]

Many of you have already done so, but for any who have not, please place your orders for the next batch of Formula Blue 100 ant food before cutoff for shipping tomorrow:

 

Cut-off time:

2 PM Eastern / 11 AM Pacific,

Tuesday, June 23

with FREE Expedited Shipping to U.S. customers

 

Orders placed after that time will ship from Amazon in about a week.  Orders placed by that time will ship tomorrow from our stock in Georgia, U.S.

 

We are making slight improvements to the recipe, including the addition of some insect extract, and also other trace minerals that have been proven to enhance receptivity among many ant species.

 

Buy Now on Amazon.com

Edited by drtrmiller, June 22 2015 - 5:45 PM.

[drtrmiller]

Edit:  There has been a meltdown during production of the next batch.  I'm awaiting some ingredients that were exhausted before the incident.  Orders will not ship out early tomorrow, as originally anticipated.

 

More info:  Sodium hydroxide is used in the new recipe.  When I blended it with the other non-food ingredients (preservatives, agar, dye, etc.), it caused an exothermic chemical reaction and almost caught on fire.  The sugar caramelized, and I was left with a brown, sweet turd smelling concoction that was probably really dangerous.  I exhausted my supply of agar, and will be receiving a new supply on Wednesday, at which time I will more carefully prepare the batch.

Edited by drtrmiller, June 22 2015 - 7:49 PM.

[dspdrew]

 

I hope you test that out thoroughly; I don't want to feed my ants a dangerous turd smelling concoction.

[cpman]

What are you using the NaOH for? That stuff heats like crazy when it is mixed with water -- try mixing it separately then letting it cool before adding it...

[BugFinder]

I'm so glad this is available now.  

[drtrmiller]

What are you using the NaOH for? That stuff heats like crazy when it is mixed with water -- try mixing it separately then letting it cool before adding it...

 

This is a new change.

 

For some unexplained reason, the addition of a trace amount of NaOH increases receptivity across the board for most ant species.  I only use a few grams for 1 kg of Blue 100 powder, but I think the reaction was caused by the grinding process and hygrophilic nature of dextrose that was also added to the non-food ingredients that were blended together.

 

Since this product has to ship in powder form, I'll either include an aqueous solution that will be mixed with each packet of powder, such as in a heat-sealed pipette, or will find an alternative way of blending the ingredients together so they do not start such a crazy chemical reaction during manufacturing or usage.

Edited by drtrmiller, June 22 2015 - 8:13 PM.

[Subverted]

Both NaOH and KOH have very extreme exothermic reactions when you hydrate them... Not sure how you can work around that

 

Maybe mix the NaOH and one of the other ingredients, hydrate, and dehydrate them again? I wonder what about the addition of NaOH is appealing to the ants.

[drtrmiller]

It's added directly to the master batch in the new SUNBURST liquid food, so there's no further exotherm or other reactions happening after bottling.  In contrast, Blue 100 is packaged as 5 gram packets of powder that are then mixed with water.

 

At the small concentration we're talking about, there normally wouldn't be any problem.  The problem was how I was preparing it—the grinding action incorporating all the ingredients, which heated up hygrophilic sugars and NaOH together, causing an intense exotherm in the presence of only water pulled out of the air.  If the ingredients had been drier, or they had not been ground together so violently, the reaction probably wouldn't have occurred.

 

There are a number of workarounds, I'm just out of agar until Wednesday.  It shouldn't be a problem getting this figured out—it was just a surprise that it happened, since I hadn't had the problem with smaller batches.

Edited by drtrmiller, June 22 2015 - 10:44 PM.

[cpman]

For some unexplained reason, the addition of a trace amount of NaOH increases receptivity across the board for most ant species.

Really? Could it be the addition of a small amount of sodium that does it? I should probably try adding very small amounts of NaOH to my food. I think I'll also try adding NaCl to one batch and KOH to another to try to determine what causes this...

[drtrmiller]

No, NaCl is added separately, because it also serves as an attractant in small concentrations.

[drtrmiller]

Orders have shipped:

 

 

Backordered 6-packs shipped today, on schedule.  6-pack kits will ship on Saturday, June 27.

 

Major Announcement:

 

 

 

Formula Blue 100 ant food will now prominently feature the batch number in large letters on the label.  This is a major change, because batch sizes are increasing by over 1,000% to keep up with demand, meaning each batch number has more relevance than ever.  Each small batch will be packaged, vacuum sealed, and sold as that batch, rather than simply Blue 100.

 

There have been so many variations to the recipe over the past 29 batches, and the new naming system will ensure that individual batch quality may be more easily assessed from product reviews and customer discussions.  Exact ingredient amounts will be listed for each batch on byFormica.com, when available.

 

If "Batch #X" doesn't work out for you, then maybe another batch, which will likely be yet another variation of Blue 100, may show improvement.

 

The goal is to be able to determine if one variation is an improvement over another, which larger batch sizes and batch naming offer.  The changes will be reflected on Amazon sites in the next few days.

Edited by drtrmiller, June 26 2015 - 2:51 PM.

[drtrmiller]

Quick update:

 

I shipped a case of Blue 100 to Amazon.com, after which the fulfillment center flooded, so the entire inventory is reserved pending review to make sure the units aren't damaged.  This was all my inventory, so it will be a while before it is available in the US again.

 

Meanwhile, Amazon.co.uk received a small number of the latest 2-part batch, which are available for shipping from the UK to most EU countries.

[drtrmiller]

NEW - 2-part formula of Formula Blue 100 is finally back in stock on Amazon.com with Prime shipping.  

 

Also ships to all of the EU from Amazon.co.uk, eligible for Prime shipping.

[drtrmiller]

New Tip for Formula Blue 100:

 

One key to success with Blue 100 is to restrict access to other carbohydrates.  Because Blue 100 is an all-in-one food, and ants will continue to seek out more energy-dense carbohydrates even after they've been removed, users may have issues when feeding Blue 100 alongside or within a few days of feeding very sweet foods.

 

Users may increase the sugar content of Blue 100 by adding 2-4 ml. of Sunburst Ant Nectar to the preparation.  Each ml of Sunburst contains about 0.5 grams of sugar.  Doing this may increase acceptance in some species that have been inadvertently conditioned to only accept very sweet or high-energy foods.

[Gregory2455]

[Runner12]

Hi,

 

Recently ordered this product and I've been feeding it to my ants exclusively for the past few days, and unfortunately, they won't touch it or show any interest in it at all.  Would using sugar water instead of tapwater or adding sugar or honey to the mix help make it more attractive?  Any advice?   My ants are all camponotus species if this helps.

Thanks

Edited by Runner12, August 28 2015 - 7:32 PM.

[drtrmiller]

Hey there!  How big is your colony?  Smaller colonies usually have vastly different foraging preferences than larger ones.

 

To answer your question, yes, adding a small amount of extra sugar may increase receptivity.

 

Make sure you followed the complete 2-part gel instructions at http://www.byformica.com/formula, and don't give up!  If you don't think it's going to work out for you within 30 days of purchase, simply contact Amazon and send the unused portion back for a refund.

 

If you have additional questions, post here, and I or someone who uses Formula Blue 100 will be happy to help!

Edited by drtrmiller, August 28 2015 - 7:57 PM.

[john.harrold]

I have a Camponotus sansabeanus colony, and it's small (9 workers). When I give them blue 100 I take a cube, crush it with my finger creating a divot in it and I add a drop of the Sunburst nectar (you can probably put sugar water in it). This makes it a little sweeter and adds a little moisture. This gives them more time to feed from it before it drys out. I never get a swarm of workers (with formula blue or anything for that matter). At this stage just 1 or 2 workers go out and bring food back for the rest of the colony. I waste a lot, but I think that has more to do with the needs of a smaller colony. I alternate between this (Blue + Sunburst) and Sunburst with whey protein, and occasionally I give them a bug. They must be eating it because their gasters  are always full and last week the first set of workers eclosed (since I got the colony with 6 workers from Drew at the end of June).

[Runner12]

Hey there!  How big is your colony?  Smaller colonies usually have vastly different foraging preferences than larger ones.

 

To answer your question, yes, adding a small amount of extra sugar may increase receptivity.

 

Make sure you followed the complete 2-part gel instructions at http://www.byformica.com/formula, and don't give up!  If you don't think it's going to work out for you within 30 days of purchase, simply contact Amazon and send the unused portion back for a refund.

 

If you have additional questions, post here, and I or someone who uses Formula Blue 100 will be happy to help!

 

Hi,  all of my colonies are 9-10 workers right now with small larvae.  I've fasted them for several days before feeding them the Formula Blue and I've been replenishing what's in their enclosures every 24 hours, but still nothing from any of them, they totally ignore it.  I made sure I followed the 2 part gel instructions, yep (unless I did something wrong without realizing it).  I may try to mix up another batch with some sugar water and see if that helps, I'll try crushing it some too.  We'll see what happens here!

Edited by Runner12, August 28 2015 - 10:39 PM.