23 replies to this topic

[dermy]

So I was out looking for Camponotus alates, since this is the time they fly. I went to an old log and decided to hit it with a shovel a bunch of times. I ripped it open and found a colony of Myrmica sp. and decided to keep them. I plan to go back and get some more workers tomorrow before the Colony scent changes. I got 2 queens and about 30-40 workers and some brood.

 

Here's a quick video on them:

 

 

I had to use my hands at the last part. You don't wanna go digging in too deep, I've actually killed queens by smashing them in half with the shovel....

 

 

I'm sure there is probably more queens in the colony, so I just closed it all up best I could and left it. Like I said Tomorrow [as long as it doesn't rain] I'll go back and get some more workers. It's nice to finally get back into ant keeping again or at least anting. I'm expecting Carpenter ants any-day now!

[dermy]

Went back a few weeks later, collected 2 queens and about 200-300 workers and made another Colony. I'm not sure if their scent changed within those 20ish days so It's better to be safe than sorry and not mix them with the above colony. But since they were from the same log, I figured I'd just keep both Journals in the same topic.

 

 

 

I'll need to start giving them protein very soon, since when I collected them I got a bunch of small larvae too

[dermy]

I finally gave them a nice foraging area and stuff. Now I can actually take care of them and not let their place of living become a messy moldy mess of diseases and probably other things.

 

 

Watch it in 360p for the best experience.

[dermy]

Here you go, a full overview [generally speaking] of what my setup looks like.

 

 

I'll try to keep you updated like maybe weekly on how the Colony is doing. They seem to have settled in nice, and I've seen a lot of pile of eggs.

[Herdo]

Very cool. I'd love to find a large species like this locally.

[dermy]

I went back to the colony [since the wood they are in is fire-wood and will be used soon] and collected 2 more queens and a couple hundred more workers. I need to get as much of the colony as I can, before they turn to ash.

 

Here's a video "time-lapse" showing them eating stuff. I'll make more of these since they are super easy to do and are something I already have a year or so experience doing, maybe not with ants but yeah.

 

[dermy]

Time-Lapses are really fun, I need to start Polluting The Internet with them.
(I was planning on making one a night, but I'm not 100% sure on that, seems like a lot)

Anyway here is one showing them eating Syrup, which they like a lot more than honey:

 

(That was probably my longest Youtube Video)

 

Next one will be with a Protien Feeding, which should be fun

 

[LC3]

How many queens are in the colony currently? I'm assuming 4.

[dermy]

Yeah there's four queens in it at the time of this Post, not sure if I'll go out and get more or not.

[dermy]

I'll get a new video or two up on these soon, got more workers/queen to add to them.

 

Until then here is something I learned how to do on youtube. Add all my videos together into a larger one [I know what I'm gonna be doing later on with all my other ant videos....]

[dermy]

I've been busy the last few days just producing videos on this colony. I have about three "public" videos and a few unlisted ones that I'll share on this Journal.

 

I went back one last time and got the rest of what I could out here is the result [this was just one foraging area, which connects to a nest (was a foraging area but they turned it into a nesting area) ] I will need to plug in another area soon.

 

 

 

Then I did a time-lapse of them feeding/drinking water:

Part #1

Part #2

Part #3

 

and for those who don't want three videos I used Youtube editor [gonna be very useful I can already tell] to make a larger one:

 

If I could I'd probably make even more but I think that's it for a few days.

[dermy]

I noticed some mold, so I took apart the whole setup, took all the ants out. Then cleaned it. I then put all the ants back. I'm probably going to have to do this about once every few months.

This is a look at the worker population as well as an overview on the setup I'm keeping them in.

 

Then I fed them some syrup, they liked it a lot

 

 

Trust me, it was worth it in the long run.

[dermy]

Update time June 17-2017
I decided to give the colony another container for either a nesting area or a foraging
area, not sure yet. They are growing pretty well. I'm expecting a population explosion
pretty soon with the amount of food I'm giving them. More Space More Ants!
 I've removed one container and added one to replace it, the hole for the tube in the
older one was loose and it would eventually knowing my luck be a problem.
Here's a video on the Current Setup:


Also here's a quick look at them before I gave them the new setup:


When I was outside I found a queen of this species [at least I'm assuming it is]
I'll probably end up having to try introducing some callows to her, since she looks
to be from last year [I assume this because in the nests I've seen, it's all alate larvae
no actual alates yet]



I'll keep you updated on the progress of this colony. It's one of my all time best
colonies I think.

[dermy]

Another week and another Time-Lapse [If I can I'll probably do one once a week if not more, since more videos are my specialty, why make 1 long one when you can upload massive amounts and then use the Youtube Editor and make one big one]

 

That was probably the best feeding response I've ever gotten. I'm noticing a lot of new workers now too. The queens [there is 6 in this colony] are laying lots too.

[dermy]

Disaster, someone dropped the setup and ants everywhere, lost about 500 workers. I still have all 6 queens. I have them in a coffee container with a water pill bottle and their old foraging area. I will just probably keep them in there from now on. Lots of space:

 

Here's a video on their new setup. Might not be doing much in the way of Time-Lapses. But I collected another colony solely for that purpose. I'll update on those once I have them all setup.

[dermy]

I went out and got another colony [I still have the original but it's hard to film/video] There is probably 1000+ workers and 7 queens.

Here's all the videos I've made on them so far:

Workers:

June 25

Time Lapse [June 26-2017]

June 26 [Jelly and Honey]

June 28-2017 [Mealworm]

[dermy]

Seeing as I have really good success with Myrmica I decided to get another Colony. When i dug them up [inside an old plant pot that had those stupid Canadian Thistle things in it] they had at least 40+ queens. I only took 25 Queens and about 500-1000 ish workers.

 

Here's a quick Time-Lapse of the Colonies First Feeding. They were mighty hungry.

 

 

 

I fed them both some Syrup as well as a mealworm. 

[dermy]

Been a bit since I've updated this Journal, here are some of the latest Time-Lapses I've done:

 

July 10th-2017

 

July 15-2107

 

July 18-2017

 

 

As for the other Colonies, one is in hibernation the other one is kind of going through a Downward Spiral, I have to dump them out again..... Fun times ahead.

[dermy]

Here are some more generic time-lapses:

 

Swarming: [This was taken during my Monthly clean-up]

 

 

July 25-2017 [Honey]

 

 

 

July 27-2017 [Mealworm]

[dermy]

I'm gonna be using this Journal for my newest test colony of Myrmica that I created today. I created it by boosting a wild caught queen with some callow workers from a colony outside. 

 

 

So far so good, I'm just gonna need to keep them fed and hopefully they get a nice colony going.

 

 

As for the Main colony in this Journal, here is a quick Time-Lapse I did of them feeding on some honey and mealworms: