Hello, I noticed that my sugar/honey test tubes grow mold very quickly once there is a bit of unsaturated cotton exposed to air. This takes a couple of days, but will then go from spotless to looking like the attached pictures overnight. I have been trying to stamp the cotton down a bit when I notice the surface looking dry to keep the ball saturated, but end up getting this mold sooner or later, and it's also difficult with workers trying to escape from the hole where the test tube was attached. I also worry about crushing them when putting the tube back, so it's a bit of a cumbersome process that needs to be done every day or two to prevent mold.
I have previously removed the cotton ball with mold and replaced with a fresh one when I notice this mold, but have also just stuffed another cotton ball on top of the mold when I see it - is this a terrible idea? I have seen workers drink from around the mold and haven't had any deaths, but I'm hoping there's a better way to go about this. Even tilting the test tube to a pretty steep angle isn't keeping the cotton ball saturated. Maybe I should pack it less densely? Anyway, I figured I'd check here before accidentally killing my colony. Any advice or input would be appreciated, thanks.
