13 replies to this topic

[Queen]

I have a THA Hearth XL that I have been using for some time now, but a strange thing keeps happening. The nest has housed 4 different colonies. The first colony thrived and eventually out grew the nest and was moved out. The 2nd to 4th colony also thrived. However, the Queen for 2nd to 4th colony unexpectedly died. The workers are all fine, other than the very rare deaths due to old age. The nest was never exposed to any chemicals, cleaning solutions, direct sunlight. The nest has water, moisture, ventilation, heat gradient, and red dark screen.

 

Not sure what is going on... I'd assume bad luck, but after the 4th colony I would guess there is something going on with the nest. However, there were no mass worker deaths and workers are all completely fine and are thriving. Workers even made repletes with the remaining batches of egg/larva.

 

Any thoughts or experience in this greatly appreciated!

[M_Ants]

I had two queens die in my mini hearth with healthy workers as well. I assumed it was just bad luck too but this post makes me wonder...

[B_rad0806]

I had literally the same exact thing happen to me with Mexicanus. I still have no clue why they died

[Queen]

What did you do with the nest?

How long did your queen live in it before dying?

What species were the queens?

[ReignofRage]

You can try soaking the entire thing in water for a day or so, then let it dry. Could just be something that needs to be washed out.

[Queen]

You can try soaking the entire thing in water for a day or so, then let it dry. Could just be something that needs to be washed out.

 

Already done that, but what would need to be washed out though that aren't killing the workers but the queen?

[B_rad0806]

What did you do with the nest?

How long did your queen live in it before dying?

What species were the queens?

I ended up just selling the nest to Nurbs. The Myrmecocystus mexicanus queens I put inside lived for like 1-3 months then would just randomly die for seemingly no reason

Edited by B_rad0806, July 9 2021 - 11:03 AM.

[Queen]

 

What did you do with the nest?

How long did your queen live in it before dying?

What species were the queens?

I ended up just selling the nest to Nurbs. The Myrmecocystus mexicanus queens I put inside lived for like 1-3 months then would just randomly die for seemingly no reason

 

 

How many mexicanus queens did you have in that nest? Dang... so sad to wake up one day and see your queen die.

[Antkeeper01]

I had literally the same exact thing happen to me with Mexicanus. I still have no clue why they died

they are Myrmecocystus lol

[cocdeshijie]

 

I had literally the same exact thing happen to me with Mexicanus. I still have no clue why they died

they are Myrmecocystus lol

 

Myrmecocystus are no harder than Camponotus when raised correctly.

[ANTdrew]

I blame the genus, too, in this case.

[Antkeeper01]

 

 

I had literally the same exact thing happen to me with Mexicanus. I still have no clue why they died

they are Myrmecocystus lol

 

Myrmecocystus are no harder than Camponotus when raised correctly.

 

i know but their queens just spontaneously die often but I've never kept them before so.. 

[TestSubjectOne]

They have an insane queen mortality rate, in my experience and from what I've read. I was lucky enough to be given several of TheAntGuy's slower queens and orphaned brood and workers last year, and combined the spare brood into one colony under one of the queens. Nevertheless, I believe I had to replace the queen of that colony twice before they got their permanent queen, and after that first month or two I had no further issues. They're hatching their first full sized workers now, at the size of about a hundred, and haven't had any issues with the same basic care as I give my other ants. In my opinion, they get their reputation as a hard species due to their unavoidably high queen mortality rather than difficulty of care.

[cap_backfire]

Hmmm.... I wonder if the queen mortality rate for Mexicanus isn't something naturally built in?   So they don't overcompete in a specific area.   I know larger colonies, especially in the wild, would require large amounts of vegetation just on their own.  Multiple colonies, close together would more or less decimate nearby vegetation right?   

Just a presumption on my part which might explain their crazy mortality rate...