Stardate 1013.2016
Welcome to the new journal of all my lovely ladies. For starters I'm going to list off the queens and how many eggs/workers they have and the nickname ill be referring them by.
pics of the colonies!! named and numbers from left to right
Queen #1
Species: camponotus pennsylvanicus
Location: Bought by from a GAN farmer on 9/27/2016
Nickname: Trouble Makers
Workers: 5
Nanitics: 1
Eggs: 3
Queen #2
Species: lasius umbratus
Location: Found in a log next to my swamp behind my house on 9/28/2016
Nickname: Frankenstien
Workers: 12
Nanitics: 0
Eggs: ~50
Queen #3
Species: camponotus noveboracensis
Found in a log next to my swamp behind my house on 10/11/2016
Nickname: Nova
Workers: 2
Nanitics: 14
Eggs: ~100
My last 3 queens in the pics are for sale. and i don't plan on keeping them. Due to that I'm not going to talk much about them
Now that introductions are out of the way Here's what's happened since i ended my last journal. If you want to read that then go here: http://forum.antscan...php?f=26&t=1917or http://www.formicult...l-first-colony/
Pics of what's happened: http://imgur.com/a/zAzOb
Since my last entry I have moved all 3 colonies into real nests. I even built a homemade outworld! My nest seller/friend even sent me a couple spare smaller nests so that way when the colonies grow i have more room for them.
The First thing to do once i got my new nests was to move the queens in so i could prepare to hibernate them. I think moves went alright. Moving White Queen was first up. i did alright i think for my first time. i learned that you have to put them in the freezer, not the fridge for 3 minutes. all the fridge did was slow them for about 10 seconds. I also learned that to pick up loose eggs use a WET ear cleaner, not a dry one! That move i found out that the White Queen had more eggs that i thought. she had 5 total. however, i smashed 2 with the dry ear cleaner. i still put them in with her in case i was wrong. but i won't know until spring.
Next up was the Lazy queen. Her move was perfect. all of the ants and eggs went into the new nest without a hitch. After those 2 settled in i had to do the Novas, whom had more than double the workers and 4x the eggs of the 2 Camp pennsylvanicus queens COMBINED!
So as i did with the camp pennsylvanicus queens, i put the Novas into the freezer for 3 minutes. Howver when i opened the freezer and looked in i still saw some workers and even the queen still moving alittle. i thought i could still move them. i was wrong. i got the queen and 3 workers and the eggs into the nest, before they woke up and tried to escape! i quickly covered the syringe. the rest of the colony was in with my thumb and closed up the nest that had the queen, eggs, and workers. CRAP CRAP CRAP!! i thought. then i had an idea. i grab some tubing and check, the tube would fit into syringe.... and it does!! i then grab some cotton and quickly block the opening of the syringe where my thumb was. and throw them back into the freezer for 3 more minutes. this time when i took them out they were sleeping. i gently connected the tube to the syringe and knocked them into the tube. and then connected the tube into the nest.
And then the novas started to derp and decided "hey there is a tube connected to the nest with sleeping workers.. lets move all the eggs into there!!" i saw that and started laughing. they almost barricaded the tube with all the eggs, but they sorted it out within a couple minutes.
Then i saw something else i've never seen before. The Nova queen was still in the nest gathering her bearings and most workers were busily moving the eggs into the tube. when all of a sudden a worker came up to the queen and then laid a trail to the tube. and the queen followed it!! it was amazing to see!
That was all done last night, today i woke up and noticed that, even though my room is 76F, the colonies all acted as if it was cold. lower activity, sluggish moments. It was 46F outside, but somehow they knew and it showed. that's when i decided to not wait any longer and that today was hibernation day! After i went and had lunch i decided to check up on my girls, it was going to be the last warm day for them for 3 months. i checked back and the nova workers seemed to be planning something. I noticed 3-5 workers at any time tugging and pulling on the cotton i had used to cover up the holes in the nest that where not in use. After talking to my ant expert we concluded they either just want to explore.. or are hungry. So i first tried some sugar water. i put a drop on foil and then cut a small piece of tubing and plugged it into each nest. Both the White Queen and Novas drank it dry.(Lazys are still being very sluggish)
But after it was dry the workers in Nova went back to the cotton. so i decided now is the time to test out my homemade outworld! after putting 2 separate layers of EVOO(Extra Virgin Olive Oil) on the walls, i hooked the colony up to it and gave them a drop of pure honey on foil and let them check it out. at first they didn't care, they started to mess with the 1 hole that had cotton on it. it was like i was being teased.. by ants!!! However after a few minutes a worker decided to investigate the tube, and found the honey. she ran back to tell the others. and they feasted on honey for about 30 minutes.
I tried 2 times to disconnect the outworld today, and both times lead to the same result, the Novas would go back to messing with the cotton. GRRRR!
I made the choice to hibernate them with the outworld(with a lid on it with an air hole) and began the move. I had 2 choices where i could put them. either under the stairs outside my room ( i live in a basement with bare concrete floors outside my room) or in my closet (no carpet in it). i chose the closet as i could keep an eye on them and the closet is never used. I'm going to be buying a thermometer so i can keep an eye on the temperature.
The move to my hibernation room...aka my closet. was easy. But now the boring part, leaving them alone to hibernate. Ill be checking up on the daily still, just a peak 
and of course to give them water once in a while. Ill be sure to update this if anything changes. Over the winter i have some work to do on a couple nests i got form my any expert. And I have my ant setup from Antscanada to look forward to in December. That will more than likely be the next update on here.
and of course to give them water once in a while. Ill be sure to update this if anything changes. Over the winter i have some work to do on a couple nests i got form my any expert. And I have my ant setup from Antscanada to look forward to in December. That will more than likely be the next update on here.Good luck hibernating everyone! and for those who don't have to hibernate.. GRRR!!! lol
Edited by W1Z25, December 10 2016 - 10:24 PM.
