32 replies to this topic

[dermy]

Looking good! One month is incredibly fast! It takes mine 2-3 months sometimes and then they always fail after first workers . Hope they do well.

[Michaelofvancouver]

Wow. She is a beauty! I am happy to see her going so well. Did you get your moisture problem sorted?

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Yes, I have discovered that one of the moisture holes for the Haven doesn't work, so half the water I sprayed was wasted every time. 

Now I moisturize the nest more often.

 

 

Looking good! One month is incredibly fast! It takes mine 2-3 months sometimes and then they always fail after first workers . Hope they do well.

 

Thanks! My first Lasius colony failed after their first workers too. I'm hoping this queen does much better.

[Michaelofvancouver]

I'm back from my one week long school trip to Quebec.

This queen still doesn't have any workers, but she has 5 or 6 pupae now.

[dermy]

Cocoons often take the longest I've heard.

[Michaelofvancouver]

This colony currently has 10 workers, but no brood at all. I'll post some pics within the the next couple of days.

[Michaelofvancouver]

Alright, time for an update. The colony currently has 11 workers, and the queen finally produced some brood again. They also started foraging again, and they accepted a spider I put in, so they're officially out of hibernation.

 

Here's the worker with two workers (one of which has really eaten too much  ).

 

 

Here's the other workers, tending to the brood.

 

 

After a while, the queen got spooked and ran into the brood chamber, ditching her two attendants.

 

 

They foraged, and ate a small spider.

 

 

I also figured I would share a few pictures of my nerdy stuff. Anyone else here collect Lego and graphic novels?

 

 

 

 

[Foogoo]

You haven't had any issues with starting such a small colony in a relatively large nest? I once put a small Pogonomyrmex colony in a Nucleus and it seems like only one worker foraged and when she died, the rest just stayed huddled on the lowest level. Plus, they would leave scraps all over the place that would eventually mold.

[Gregory2455]

Foogoo, note that Camponotus are generally "smarter" than Pogonomyrmex.
By the way, the Haven is like two chambers I think, and is meant for small colonies.

[Foogoo]

Foogoo, note that Camponotus are generally "smarter" than Pogonomyrmex.
By the way, the Haven is like two chambers I think, and is meant for small colonies.

 

In that case, do you think my Camponotus (only 2 workers + brood) or Crematogaster (~25 workers) would do ok in my Foundress or half-Nucleus? I've been scared to use them since the near demise of the Pogonomyrmex...

[dean_k]

No, you want 50 ~ 100 workers at least for even half of Nucleus.

[Gregory2455]

25 sounds like a good amount, but I do mot know the size of the nucleus.

[Michaelofvancouver]

 

Foogoo, note that Camponotus are generally "smarter" than Pogonomyrmex.
By the way, the Haven is like two chambers I think, and is meant for small colonies.

 

In that case, do you think my Camponotus (only 2 workers + brood) or Crematogaster (~25 workers) would do ok in my Foundress or half-Nucleus? I've been scared to use them since the near demise of the Pogonomyrmex...

 

 

The Haven is not that small of a formicarium, with 6 chambers total. The ants do leave scraps around, but I feed them mostly liquid food. They did create a mountain of mold over winter, but I cleaned it up as it was next to the entrance.

 

I would have placed my Camponotus colony in a smaller formicarium like a Growth Chamber or Grotube, but I didn't have one availabe.

 

And Foogoo, I would wait a while for the Camponotus colony, but you can probably move the Crematogaster into the Foundress formicarium.

[Michaelofvancouver]

I have decided to continue updating my ant journals but making them videos and putting them on youtube, here's the first entry in the series. I just think it's so much more efficient than having to type up a lot of stuff and upload images and stuff.

 

 

My channel: https://www.youtube....ge7HRaLMJmZ8drw

 

Feel free to comment on the video with your feedback!