3 replies to this topic

[Vern530]

Today i found a colony that had been dug up due to some maintenance at a base ball field(where i recently caught 20 plus Pogonomyrmex subdentatus queens) and there was tons of pupae that were near ready to eclose and i took 15 or so and distributed to my queens>has any one tried this and does it matter if when brood boosting if you use eggs vs larvae vs pupae????any info or tips and hints on the subject would be helpful ...also if any one has had success with this species and what were the secrets cause so far this is my second attempt after complete failure of all the queens first go around earlier this summer.i had them all in test tubes then and now most all are in dirt set ups and seem to be doing OK but no eggs after a week and a half to two weeks.thanks for the input in advance 

[AntTitan]

I don't know a lot about brood boosting but I do know that if you can, try and brood boost with pupae or the older/bigger larve. That way it takes less work and less resources for you colony to use on the brood.

[Kaelwizard]

Pupae is the only one I ever see used for brood boosting.

[UtahAnts]

Be careful about brood boosting founding queens, established colony's usually receive any pupae and larvae well, but I've had one to many queens fail because she could not successfully raise her own workers after brood boosting. My year old tetra colony for example is still at four workers when they should easily be in the hundreds, along with a stagnant pile of eggs that never grow, or get eaten before they can do so. The queen of this colony was the only one I boosted before nanitics, all 9 other colonies I raised normally last season have exploded in number and are all sold off by now. I use larvae and very new pupae for my colonies, but maybe you will find a better way. Be sure to update how it goes, or how it went as this thread was from November.