92 replies to this topic

[PhasorShift]

the queens together will not kill each other until they have workers. that would be when one would be killed.

That's what I expect to happen, but for the time being it's neat to see what they might do.

[Ants_Dakota]

 

the queens together will not kill each other until they have workers. that would be when one would be killed.

That's what I expect to happen, but for the time being it's neat to see what they might do.

 

plus the workers will kill the one with the most unfit genes, so you will get the best queen. you will also get an unusually large amount of nanitics.

[PhasorShift]

Update 10/10/2020 (slightly late)

 

Checked my ants late in the day (and so forgot to post an update for several more) and there isn't a lot of development, as is kind of expected during this stage.

 

Two more queens died this week, sadly including my only brevicornis. I was really excited about that one, it was my favorite. I think there was the bad mold in that tube, I noticed the cotton ball was turning yellow before, but didn't do anything. Oh well...

 

 

Instead of taking a bunch of pics this week, I took a short video using the macro lens. I don't know if I can embed a video in the post, so I'll also link to it on YouTube. (I'm not really a content creator don't worry)

 

https://youtu.be/TkMCrMM4RPk

 

Anyway, this weekend I'm gonna feed them some more sugar water, then start moving them downstairs and into the fridge for the winter. 15 queens remain. We'll see how many make it to spring.

[Ants_Dakota]

the yellow mold does not kill my ants. my guess is that she is infertile.

[PhasorShift]

the yellow mold does not kill my ants. my guess is that she is infertile.

That is entirely possible, I did catch her during/immediately after a big neoniger flight and she never removed her wings...

[PhasorShift]

Update uh... 10/17/2020

 

I keep forgetting to post these updates. At least I won't need to for a while now.

 

Last Saturday I checked on my queens, fed them, and moved them downstairs to prepare for diapause. No new dead queens! Exciting news.

 

Here's some image spam, if they all can fit in the post:

 

 

 

This one has newly removed her wings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's all three in that tube in one picture.

 

They all seem to be doing well I guess? But they aren't dead and I don't know enough about single queens to know if they aren't doing well, so I guess I'll just leave them. One crematogaster seems to be pulling at her water cotton, making an interesting structure with it, but I don't think that really means anything.

 

I tried feeding them using the sugar water soaked Q-tip method, using foil to keep it clean... But it made a mess and got everywhere anyway. So I cleaned up their tubes as best I could with water and cotton before putting them away again.

 

There was one tube with yellowed cotton, similar to the one last week that died, so I was pretty concerned, but after everyone I asked said the yellow mold isn't anything to worry about and it was probably something else wrong with that queen, I'm not gonna do anything about it.

 

(Wow, a lot of pictures in this post.)

 

Anyway, after letting them eat/drink for a few hours if they wanted to, I wrapped the box with their tubes in a couple towels, and moved them downstairs. Throughout the week, I've been decreasing the temp in stages (basement, fridge with door open, fridge with door cracked, then door closed) to put them into diapause. I've got one of those remote temp sensor meant to check the weather outside in there with them, so I've been monitoring the temperature. This should be pretty stable for them, once I fully have them in the fridge. They almost didn't fit, the box is kinda long and I forgot to check ahead of time, but I managed to get them into the fridge.

 

So what do I do now? Once they're in the fridge, do I need to check on them at all? How often? Do I need to give them food? I don't think I needed to anyway, so they'll probably be fine without. Am I basically all set until March now?

 

That's all for now I guess, so thanks for reading!

[PhasorShift]

Update 12/4/2020

 

Just checked on my ant queens for the first time since I put them in the fridge. They seem to be doing mostly okay. Most of them started moving when I opened the box, except for one I think dissolved. All the water still looks full and clear, and I'm pretty sure I don't need to worry about giving them food yet. Just took a quick look, and put them right back in to chill some more. They've been at a constant 47°F.

 

 

So what now? When do I take them out? What do I need to have ready when I do? 

[ANTdrew]

I take queens like these out at the end of January. I tap them into brand new tubes and offer them a drop of nectar. The big thing you’ll need to figure out before then is how to safely and consistently heat all those queens.

[Spazmops]

I take queens like these out at the end of January. I tap them into brand new tubes and offer them a drop of nectar. The big thing you’ll need to figure out before then is how to safely and consistently heat all those queens.

To do that I bought a reptile heater and arranged the tubes around it in a circle, so that only about 2 or 3 centimeters of one end were on the mat. The tubes stayed pretty consistently around 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit 

[PhasorShift]

I take queens like these out at the end of January. I tap them into brand new tubes and offer them a drop of nectar. The big thing you’ll need to figure out before then is how to safely and consistently heat all those queens.

New tubes is a good idea. And I plan on getting a heating cable before they come out. I also don't plan on keeping all of them, maybe one or two and sell the rest.

[PhasorShift]

Update 1/2/2021

 

Well, it's January now, which means it should be about time to take my ant queens out of the fridge soon... And honestly, I'm not entirely sure if I want to.

 

I knew this would be an issue back when I first got interested in ants, I tend to be quite passionate about something for a period of time, and then lose interest. Since putting the ants into diapause, I haven't really thought about them much, and I've basically ghosted the antkeeping discord server I'm in. I know I won't really need to worry about feeding or taking care of them for a while yet since they're just queens in tubes, but I always felt I'm barely able to take care of myself, let alone any kind of pet. It's why I haven't gotten a cat yet, even though I'd love to.

 

Another reason I'm really nervous, is a few weeks ago my landlords came through and did a pest inspection, looking for roaches. I'm pretty sure if they discover I'm keeping a colony of ants in my basement, I'd get in a lot of trouble. Especially if I'm also keeping a culture of roaches as feeders. Escapes are always inevitable, and I don't want to be the one responsible for starting an infestation of my apartment building...

 

I'm also worried about the effort it'll take to raise them... I know people say ants are a really easy pet, but I know I will still need to go out of my way to manage them, and my current mental state makes that quite difficult. I just keep thinking about needing to feed them ever day, clean their outworlds, make their outworlds and nests yet... I know I don't need to do that for all the queens, and then I'd really only need to once.. I dunno. There's a chance I'd end up really enjoying it, and it would help motivate me to raise a colony of ants. There's a chance I'll really enjoy creating the things that they need.

But last fall all I needed to do was "keep them in tubes and don't worry about it until next year." Now I need to actually do something, and I don't know if I'm ready.

 

Words of advice and encouragement would be appreciated. 

[DDD101DDD]

You can still keep them in tubes for at least few months or more. Feeding doesn't have to be daily, especially when the colony is small.

[ANTdrew]

Ant keeping won’t solve all your problems, nor will it be the funnest thing you’ve ever done. It won’t be all exciting drama and soundtracks like the YouTube channels. It’s a really rewarding hobby if you put in the effort, and it does take a LOT of effort. You really need to weigh the costs before taking on an ant colony.
You’ve taken in quite a few queens. You have a responsibility for them now. You don’t need to start them all at once. I advise starting them in phases. Sell what you can and maybe release others in suitable habitats. You also don’t need to raise your own feeders, nor create anything fancy for them; a test tube placed in an escape proof foraging container is best for most species.
Give it a shot before you throw in the towel.

[PhasorShift]

Update 1/12/2021

 

Good morning!~

 

Today I pulled my ant queens out of the fridge. I dunno if it was too early, but probably not. They went in mid October, so it's been about three months.

As someone suggested here, I made new test tube setups and tapped them in to the fresh tubes. Some of them were holding on quite tightly, so the tapping was a tad aggressive... I'm sure they'll forget the stress soon enough. I also gave them all a tiny drop of honey, on a foil tray. There were only three casualties over the winter, two lasius and one of the crematogaster. Not bad, considering. All the grouped queens survived, too. I put all the new tubes in one of those acoustic foam panels, with the wedges, which holds them nicely, and ran a heating cable through a slit near the end. Here's a pic of the entire new setup.

 

 

I have the cable hooked up to a thermostat controller, with the thermometer inside a spare tube, and set to 85°f. I might adjust that up or down in time, depending on how they react. I'm slightly nervous with six feet of heating element being used by twelve inches, but it'll probably be fine.

 

Now for image spam! I got out the macro lens once again. Need to figure out a better lighting method though... 

 

 

And the two remaining crematogaster. I saw some other people with multiple queens in a crematogaster colony, so I'm wondering if I should put these two together. Thoughts?

 

And this is how the heating is done. You can see the cable in the side, and the thermometer in the tube.

 

So that's where I'm at now. I'll take the foil from the honey out of their tubes tomorrow, then leave them probably until their eggs start hatching~ assuming they lay eggs of course. I'll check on them once in a while and update here.

 

Hopefully all goes well!

[ANTdrew]

Do not combine the Crematogaster queens! I started my new 2021 queens a week ago, so we can compare notes. Good luck.

[TennesseeAnts]

You can combine the Crematogaster if you get a 100% positive ID on them, as C. lineolata have been known to have up to 4 mated dealates per nest. You'd need a microscope for a positive ID, though.

Edited by Ant_Dude2908, January 13 2021 - 7:46 AM.

[M_Ants]

I guess I got lucky. I put two Crematogaster queens together and they never had any issues. Does that mean they are C. lineolata? 

[ANTdrew]

I think you have a lot of other possible species in CA.

[PhasorShift]

In case you were wondering, I think only one of the queens even touched the honey I gave them, not counting one of the Crematogaster that got stuck in it. I still removed it, and won't feed them again for some time I suppose.

[ANTdrew]

Did you mix it with water? Pure honey is often too thick for ants to drink, and they can get stuck in it. Better yet, get some Sunburst nectar from ByFormica. Don’t feed the queens anymore in any case.