3 replies to this topic

[TheIndianMafia]

To give a little context, lets rewind to march of this year.

I went to go check on my colonies I had in hibernation, and to my despair, found all of my colonies dead (it's confirmed, kept the testubes until late may and nothing changed in the ants). At first, I didn't know what could've caused this, the testubes had water and i fed them prior to putting them into hibernation. I felt distraught and had no motivation to continue keeping ants.

Several weeks later i wanted a diagnosis, i wanted to see what i did wrong. The first thing i did was inspect the tubes itself. One thing that stood out to me in the my formica colony's tube was the abundance of mold and fungi. Although this wasn't a smoking gun, as the testubes were left there for long enough for it to grow overtime, but it did give me some hope. And as for my other colonies, it is still a mystery. My guess is that is was a failed hibernation. The temperatures in my basement constantly fluctuate, which may stress the ants out to the point they die.

It wasn't all doom and gloom though, in that time from march until now, i have captured many queen ants that are flourishing. My myrmica rubra and camponotus  novaeboracensis colonies are exploding in population and developing larvae.

As an antkeeper, i want to grow from this. So I ask you experienced ant keepers how to prevent things like this to happen again, and do a proper hibernation. It would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ANTdrew]

You need a lot more context, actually! What did you hibernate the ants in? What temperature? When did you put them in/ take them out? What conditions were the ants living in before hibernation? What do you usual feed the ants, and what is your cleaning regimen?

[TheIndianMafia]

You need a lot more context, actually! What did you hibernate the ants in? What temperature? When did you put them in/ take them out? What conditions were the ants living in before hibernation? What do you usual feed the ants, and what is your cleaning regimen?

 

1, I hibernated them in a cardboard box with the top part cut off down in my basement.

2. The temperature i put them at was 5 degrees Celsius.

3. Put them in hibernation around mid october and took them out around mid to late march.

4. I kept the ants in my room on my dresser and nightstand, the average temperature of my room was 20-25 degrees Celsius. All in testubes.

5. I typically feed my ants grasshoppers and crickets, maybe the occasional spider. And for sweets, honey or maple syrup.

6.  I'd take old food out after a few days of leaving it in there. And as they were still in their founding testubes, it was nearly impossible to take their feces and dead colony members out without startling the colony and or several workers escaping, unless they put it right against the cotton ball keeping them in. so it was something i kind of avoided.

And a little extra note. I didn't have any problems with the ants UNTIL hibernation.

[ANTdrew]

Ok, my guess as to what went wrong is that by keeping them in just test tubes all season, too much mess build up, which caused your mold. Give small outworlds to any colonies that have more than a few workers to make feeding and cleaning far easier.