8 replies to this topic

[BrittonLS]

So, it seems like I see a lot of deaths in journals more than updates. I'm wondering if that's because we're all still working out how to care for our ants or older colonies just don't inspire new interesting journal entries to post. And then some people seem to give them away even o.O

So I want to hear some success stories with ant colonies. People who have colonies a year old or older or just have booming colonies with hundreds or thousands of ants. Pictures are awesome too, and I suppose I'll allow past colonies if they were really spectacular

[Crystals]

That is like saying, how many people end to keep goldfish alive for their average 8-20+ year life span.  Is it possible?  Yes.  But most people don't do their research (like those uncle milton ant farms...). 

 

This site is almost 2 years old, so the journals you are looking for are most likely located on older European or German ant forums.

 

That said, almost all of my colonies are very successful.  I only record my personal colonies, not the ones I sell.  There is a link to my journals in my signature and it also lists when I caught the queen. Most of my colonies are over a year old.  Some are doing extraordinarily well, others that are more difficult, like certain parasitic species, are not doing so well.  But it is all documented for those who look for what has been tried before.

[dspdrew]

I have quite a few colonies that are doing very well. I update their journals every once and a while too.

[BrittonLS]

Want to link any particular one to brag about? Read: I want you to link one to brag about.

[dspdrew]

These are all my successful colonies started from newly mated queens.

 

Acromyrmex versicolor (1 year)

http://www.formicult...ated-6-28-2015/

 

Pogonomyrmex californicus (bicolor) (1 year, 2 months)

http://www.formicult...ated-5-31-2015/

 

Pogonomyrmex rugosus (1 year, 11 months)

http://www.formicult...ated-7-27-2015/

 

Pogonomyrmex subnitidus (2 years, 2 months)

http://www.formicult...ated-4-30-2015/

 

Solenopsis molesta (2 years, 2 months)

http://www.formicult...dated-5-2-2015/

 

Veromessor pergandei (1 year, 4 months)

http://www.formicult...dated-8-3-2015/

[Huch]

3 years ago, I had a Tetramorium Species E. colony that was 10 months old. The population quickly exploded that I had to add extra formicariums rather quickly. I had to get rid of them along with all of my colonies when I had to change residence. I had no time for them. I ended up releasing the colony next to my house, and that colony I am pretty certain is still there today, still huge, and I caught a couple newly mated queens which I think are from the same colony.

 

The funny thing is, the original queen kept her wings. One of the queens I caught which now has nanitics kept her wings too.

 

I had a playlist for it that I updated monthly or so. Here is one of the later videos:

Edited by Huch, August 5 2015 - 6:11 PM.

[drtrmiller]

These colonies exist, but Formiculture and other antkeeping communities only represent a minute fraction of an already miniscule group of people who keep ants.

 

I often hear about or see pictures of larger or mature colonies from users who are less active in antkeeping communities.

[nurbs]

I don't have journals for all my colonies, but I have successfully raised a number of species from a single queen and they are doing well.

 

I haven't actually had an entire colony die on me yet. They have shrunk and grown, but none has died yet.

 

I did have one queen die on me, but she was already sick when I found her.

[Trailandstreet]

I think most of the colonies which get over the first year could also go over a lot of years. The main problem for the keeper is that they need a lot of more space then a younger one. So many of them are not kept over more then ten years.

Today I have only 9 smaller colonies and five founding queens. Someday, when my Messor gets bigger, I think I would spend less time on keeping other ants and build a larger formicarium for them.

Maybe I return the indigenuous ones to the wild.