53 replies to this topic

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I bought a colony of camponotus sansebabus online and they are due to arrive on Feb 2nd

Edited by GOCAMPONOTUS, February 2 2024 - 9:18 PM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I bought a single queen with eggs

[Artisan_Ants]

Nice, (you might want to feed her like honey or something when she arrives; not protein) and you’ll have to hibernate her. Do this like 2 days after she arrives. Start with lowering the temperature by using an ice pack or something, and keeping her near a window. When it’s around 50 degrees, quickly move her to a fridge, and set the temperature to 43-46 ºF. Keep her in this phase, for like 4-5 months. And make sure to open periodically for a fresh airflow (they don’t need a lot of air anyways because they live in the ground and hibernate like meters under the ground, but that doesn’t mean that they need no fresh air at all). Camponotus are very good at dealing with low temp, so keeping them at ideal 38ºF is fine, but might be a little harsh on her. Good luck!

Edited by Artisan_Ants, February 2 2024 - 3:43 PM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

In my area we have weather around 42-53 degrees F. And my garage is around 43 degrees F so would i be able to keep her in there.

I also have a mini fridge if that would work out

[AsdinAnts]

A mini fridge would be a perfect place to hibernate your queen, but I’m fairly certain that your garage would also work.

[Artisan_Ants]

Yeah all of those would work great. Just make sure your garage temperature doesn’t fluctuate too much.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Got it thank you for the info. I will update soon

[kiedeerk]

I have to give advice to new ant keepers not to buy queens without workers. Especially in their off season. Camponotus sansebabus fly in the spring to early summer. The queen you bought most likely is a queen from last season. Camponotus queens don’t typically diapause then lay eggs as most Camponotus species fly in spring and early summer. They would have a set or two of nanitics before diapause.

I wish you good luck but if this is a queen that failed her first founding or lost all her initial workers. It will be extremely hard to found unless you can boost her with pupae of the same/similar species

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I don't have any other Sansas so how would i brood boost them. Or any other camponotuses currently or around me.

Edited by GOCAMPONOTUS, February 2 2024 - 9:23 PM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I'm confused should I put her in hibernation or not?

Or should I leave her and wait for her to lay eggs.

[Artisan_Ants]

No. Put her In hibernation. Even If she was caught last season. Not all queens have success in raising to workers (not the case for your queen though) or some can be caught very late, causing them to only reach egg/larvae stage (probably what happened to your queen). Keep her in hibernation, wrap her with towels, and she will be fine. I myself have some C. cerasi queen with no eggs, and they’re hibernating just fine. After the first year in hibernation, it’s optional if you want to hibernate her or not. But keep in mind that If she is hibernated, there is a much bigger success rate in egg production next season then that of not hibernating her. Brood boosting her might also work, but it’s complicated. But If you can get your hand on callow workers, it could work (suggest trying that in Spring if she doesn’t have eggs).

Edited by Artisan_Ants, February 3 2024 - 3:41 PM.

[rptraut]

Hello GOCAMPONOTUS;

 

I don't think we have enough information to properly answer your question.  What exactly did you receive?   Do you have a queen with eggs, or just the queen?

Second, where are you located?  Hibernation or diapause requirements depend largely on where the ants are living.  Why try to duplicate outdoor conditions in a fridge, put her out in your garage in the dark, wrapped up if you like, against the wall of the attached house to minimize the chances of her freezing, and leave her until the weather warms in spring.  She seems like she might be a little skittish, so disturb her as little as possible as she raises her first brood.

 

I wouldn't give up on this queen, but I wouldn't pin all my hopes on her either.  Right now, I have a Camponotus queen that lost or ate her eggs the first season so I put her in a natural setup and left her to see what she would do.  In her second season she raised two nanitics and had a nice little egg pile going into diapause last fall.   Thankfully I had other ants to occupy my time because this queen has taken a long hard road.  Camponotus colonies grow slowly as it is, losing nanitics or workers early in a colony's life will slow that growth rate even more.  As I said, I wouldn't pin all my hopes on this queen, but I wouldn't give up on her either.   There'll be many opportunities to find queens this coming season, so start planning now for spring and summer queen hunting.   You'll catch queens that will easily found colonies and get off to a good start right from the beginning.  Good Luck

RPT

[ReignofRage]

Just curious, how much did you get the queen for?

[JesseTheAntKid]

I bought a single queen with eggs

I don't think she's fertile. February isn't even spring yet, so I think she's one of those early fliers who didn't mate.

[Artisan_Ants]

I bought a single queen with eggs

I don't think she's fertile. February isn't even spring yet, so I think she's one of those early fliers who didn't mate.

Yeah that could be true. It really depends on if she has eggs or not. If she doesn’t then she’s not fertile, (or likely ate them through shipping) But if she does have eggs then there’s hope. You can find brood of other species, raise them with their own workers, and put the callows inside with the queen. Like introducing parasitic Lasius queens to their hosts. But again, if there are no eggs, then there’s no point.

Edited by Artisan_Ants, February 3 2024 - 5:51 PM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

There are 0 eggs so should I just lose hope?

Edited by GOCAMPONOTUS, February 3 2024 - 6:52 PM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I got the queen and eggs for $65 But she might have ate the eggs during shipping as the pictures had eggs in them also I live in Rocklin,Ca 

[kiedeerk]

never buy queens without workers in off season. Freshly caught queens should also have eggs before being sold. Queens will sometimes eat brood but in my experience they never eat all the brood during shipping. So queens who arrive without any brood is a major red flag. Too many scammers out there who sell infertile queens or failed queens from previous seasons

[dspdrew]

Any seller should know better than to be selling a queen at full price that flew 10 months ago and still has no brood or workers. This is why you should by from reputable sellers.

[JesseTheAntKid]

I got the queen and eggs for $65 But she might have ate the eggs during shipping as the pictures had eggs in them also I live in Rocklin,Ca 

65?!?! Oh nah definitely a scam, no queen should cost that unless it's a rare or sought-after species or genus like Atta, and I'm pretty sure C. sansabeanus isn't rare or sought after. I've seen C. pennsylvanicus colonies online with workers that cost less than that.