Hello all,
I'm Ryan, a beekeeper who has recently decided to allow my enthusiasm for Hymenoptera to cause me to delve into keeping ants. While I'm actually hoping to get a head-start on my first kept colony by collecting one of the ones I frequently find using the inner cover space in my beehives as a home, I've been keeping an eye out for queens recently as well. I work outside daily doing bee-friendly honey bee removals as well as managing hives, so I think I should stand a good chance at picking up queens. I was already carrying around small vials to all my jobs due to an interest in Salticids (Jumping Spiders), and grabbed what I was pretty sure was my first queen recently. Looks like she's started laying eggs, so that's probably a good sign.
Figured I'd post a hello... I'm usually the type to lurk and read, get in over my head fast, learn from my mistakes, and then chip in when I've got something to contribute; so don't expect to hear too much from me for a while yet.