I just recently got into the hobby by catching a pair of L niger queens outside my building one sunny late July afternoon. This is going to be the story of one of them, the one who is right now looking like the most successful one.
I started keeping some notes on Google docs but I thought it could be better here, maybe I'll get a chance to get some advice on the way too.
July 27, 2019
Caught two queens on the sidewalk. One without wings and one still with her wings. Put them both in their own pill bottle as that was the only thing I had on hand. Water behind a cotton ball like in a test tube.
Ordered test tubes the same day from my local brewery shop, unfortunately they didn't have any in stock.
A couple of days later both queens had laid eggs in their pill bottles.
September 11, 2019
Noticed two workers with one of the queens, the one without her wings.
September 12, 2019
A couple of more workers with the first queen. Still none with the winged one but I noticed a lot of mites running around over the cotton.
At this time I wanted the queen with the workers to move in to a test tube instead of the pill bottle. The water reservoir behind the cotton was almost gone. I prepped a test tube with water and put it inside a plastic container and covered it up. Opened the pill bottle and put it down beside the test tube and put a led spot light over it.
September 18, 2019
No sign of wanting to move. Maybe around 8-10 workers now. A couple of days earlier I gave them a white dwarf isopod which they fed on. Doesn't show any interest in honey though. Noticed the workers had started to dig into the cotton ball and made a small tunnel. The water behind the cotton is now gone but the cotton is still moist.
September 20, 2019
Both queen and workers have completely moved into the cotton ball. Due to the diameter of the pill bottle it's quite a big ball of cotton. Brood is also moved into the tunnel/chamber. Put a small isopod with a drop of honey on a piece of tin foil with them. I've put a piece of thin hemp rope from the opening of the pill bottle into the test tube for ease of discovery and movement into it. Don't think they even been there to check it out. They seem extremely shy and unadventurous. Maybe because it doesn't have any cover.
I guess I'll just have to be patient and keep the test tube close and present it as a nice appealing next home. The cotton will eventually dry out more and more and by then they'll go out looking for another place to nest?
Side note on the other queen. She still has her wings and is still sitting over her brood. Looked closer and I see a couple of pupae in there. It's been more than a month and a half since she laid her eggs though. Could the mites be part of why it's taking so long? Or is it just within normal variance? If I eventually get her to move away from there is there a chance she can leave the mites behind? As soon as she has a few workers I'm thinking I'll present a new nest for them. Until then I don't want to mess with her.
I love my ants though. Think it's probably one of the most rewarding pet animals I've kept. So fascinating.
