(Formica pratensis)
Formica balcanina)
I've kept her for over night, but next day I've found another, slightly different, this time 1-1.5mm larger with red legs. Identified as Formica cinerea
(Formica cinerea)
As I've expected, they were polygynus and they helped each other to shed wings.
In next couple of days I've found three more queens and put them in same colony.
Before I caught last queen, I was observing her for couple of hours. She was standing on the sun, near one small hole...Just waiting for nothing.
When i took her she was more than happy to join "family".
With time, they started to lay eggs. Everything was good, but, even I wasn't providing any other food than honey, there was some weird scent.
I used to remove lid so that they could have more air.
One day I've found one queen behaving very weird. She was like dizzy or something. I even have her on video.
four queens was in foraging area. Two had some brood in their mandibles other two was protecting-like. Somehow I managed to "eject" dizzy queen out of tube, and picked her up. I also added new tube to queens.
Dizzy queen wasn't behaving very happy...She was walking, but very slow. I cleaned her thorax with wet cotton, her head too, and I provided some sugars to her. Then I put her back, in new foraging area.
In next few hours, she was like new, running around tube with rest of pack.
I had issue with brood left in old tube, there was like 50 eggs, each one of them I took carefully and put in new tube.
Few days ago, I fed them with chicken. Even queens went out to eat chicken.
Next day, chicken was all green and wet. And all that smell, again was so present.
I assume they're using formic acid to dissolve food. Don't really know reason why they do such, but it seems they will do it again and again.
Answered
