3 replies to this topic

[Ape-o-sematic]

I have an established Lasius flavus colony and I’ve just found the queen has died, no idea why. The workers appear fine and seem to be carrying on as normal. I know this is almost certainly a no, but I have a new queen currently in hibernation, is there any way to combine the two or is the colony a lost cause?

[Manitobant]

It is probably a lost cause sadly. Queens of many species often die suddenly for no reason at all, and ants dying is a natural part of this hobby, so don’t hit yourself too hard if you are a beginner.

[yaboiseth]

Do not throw out the colony or dead queen. Keep feeding the workers like normal. I had a Pheidole queen, my first ant queen ever, die out of nowhere with like 100 workers and I kept the colony fed and watered for a few more months just so they could pass of old age and my queen was just magically up and walking again, although she hasnt produced a single worker since then. I'm assuming she went sterile afterwards. I have asked everywhere and noone seems to have an answer to what happened with this queen but I guess its worth a shot.

[eea]

Do not throw out the colony or dead queen. Keep feeding the workers like normal. I had a Pheidole queen, my first ant queen ever, die out of nowhere with like 100 workers and I kept the colony fed and watered for a few more months just so they could pass of old age and my queen was just magically up and walking again, although she hasnt produced a single worker since then. I'm assuming she went sterile afterwards. I have asked everywhere and noone seems to have an answer to what happened with this queen but I guess its worth a shot.

that's weird