21 replies to this topic

[Ant Broski]

I did some experimenting and I discovered that if an ant queen dies and you put a new ant queen of the same species in they usually except her as the new queen. I tried it on my tetriorium caespitum colony when the queen died from warming up too fast from hibernation, and a tetramorium caespitum queen who's workers all died. I did the same with two camponataus colonies when one of them the queen lost her workers when I was on vacation, and the other colony had lost their queen from injury. I combined those two colonies, and it worked! I hope for anyone who's queen just died and have a spare queen can save their colony! Let me know your results

[nurbs]

Yeah, I have done this as well. Recently had a V. pergandei with about 10 workers whose queen died, and another workerless queen with lots of pupae and larvae. I put both colonies in the fridge for about 15 min, took them out, and placed the queenless colony with the other queen and they got along fine.

Edited by nurbs, May 10 2017 - 6:52 PM.

[Martialis]

Wow! I've heard of this with honeybees, but not ants.

[T.C.]

I wonder if putting my queen-less lasius alienus colony in the fridge and then throwing in a L. Umbratus queen would work?

[Serafine]

You can try. Social parasites are always tricky but I guess your chances are better than trying it with a colony that still has a queen.

[Nathant2131]

I wonder if putting my queen-less lasius alienus colony in the fridge and then throwing in a L. Umbratus queen would work?

That is actually a method for Lasius social parasites.

[noebl1]

I wonder if putting my queen-less lasius alienus colony in the fridge and then throwing in a L. Umbratus queen would work?

 

I did this without the fridge technique this season; not sure if got lucky or not.  My  L. alienus queen died a couple weeks out of hibernation.  She had a small brood and a couple nanitics.  I intentionally left her body in there and waited until L. umbratus came out of hibernation (about 2-3 weeks).  I taped the two test tubes together, and the L. umbratus queen slowly entered the other tube, caused a bit of chaos.  Within the first few minutes she tore the dead queen in to pieces.  After an hour, things had settled down, and by the next morning, she was sitting with the brood and they were tending to her.  The pieces of the old queen had been moved away to the opposite end of the attached test tube.   I lost one nanitic unfortunately from accidental drowning (they are small and I use a cotton ball to feed, but the drop didn't get absorbed entirely unfortunately as she got stuck.)   See how they do long term.   The new brood is getting close to new workers (believed to be original brood still from this season).  However if that doesn't happen soon, I doubt it will be a success.

[Ant Broski]

Wow! I've heard of this with honeybees, but not ants.

I didn't either until I tried it

[Dbiggerstaff11]

I have a S. Invicta Queen I recently captured from a nest. She has 2 workers but desperately needs more. Could I try this with her even though she already has workers?

[Ant Broski]

I have a S. Invicta Queen I recently captured from a nest. She has 2 workers but desperately needs more. Could I try this with her even though she already has workers?

I wouldn't suggest doing that, because those two workers are going to attack the other workers. Instead you can brood boost. Which means get some larvae and/or pupae of the same species and putting them with your ant colony.

[Dbiggerstaff11]

[quote name="Ant Broski" post="61006" timestamp="1494782240"]

[quote name="Dbiggerstaff11" post="60955" timestamp="1494727948"]
I have a S. Invicta Queen I recently captured from a nest. She has 2 workers but desperately needs more. Could I try this with her even though she already has workers?[/quote]
I wouldn't suggest doing that, because those two workers are going to attack the other workers. Instead you can brood boost. Which means get some larvae and/or pupae of the same species and putting them with your ant colony.[/quote
I currently have 6 S. invicta Workers I was about to put in there. They're currently in the fridge getting chilled. I may have to risk it because the 2 workers she has are not getting out is their test tube to get food. I'm afraid if I don't boost their worker amount, they may perish. Would this be smart?

[Batspiderfish]

If they aren't leaving to forage yet, it means they don't need to. Boosting will not fix any problems with your queen or the setup.

[Dbiggerstaff11]

If they aren't leaving to forage yet, it means they don't need to. Boosting will not fix any problems with your queen or the setup.

Ok, but they've been in there for a week and only 1 ant has left once

[Batspiderfish]

 

If they aren't leaving to forage yet, it means they don't need to. Boosting will not fix any problems with your queen or the setup.

Ok, but they've been in there for a week and only 1 ant has left once

 

 

A week is fine. They are in more danger by being exposed to foreign workers than they are when foraging at their convenience. Make sure they have fresh food when they are ready.

[Dbiggerstaff11]

If they aren't leaving to forage yet, it means they don't need to. Boosting will not fix any problems with your queen or the setup.

Ok, but they've been in there for a week and only 1 ant has left once

A week is fine. They are in more danger by being exposed to foreign workers than they are when foraging at their convenience. Make sure they have fresh food when they are ready.

Ok. Thanks, I have a mealworm and some honey for them. If the two workers died however, could I try this?

[Ant Broski]

I wouldn't suggest doing that, because those two workers are going to attack the other workers. Instead you can brood boost. Which means get some larvae and/or pupae of the same species and putting them with your ant colony.[/quote]
I currently have 6 S. invicta Workers I was about to put in there. They're currently in the fridge getting chilled. I may have to risk it because the 2 workers she has are not getting out is their test tube to get food. I'm afraid if I don't boost their worker amount, they may perish. Would this be smart?[/quote]

If the colony about to die they might except new workers. You can try. Worst casesenerio the workers you put in die.

[Ant Broski]

If they aren't leaving to forage yet, it means they don't need to. Boosting will not fix any problems with your queen or the setup.

Ok, but they've been in there for a week and only 1 ant has left once

A week is fine. They are in more danger by being exposed to foreign workers than they are when foraging at their convenience. Make sure they have fresh food when they are ready.

Ok. Thanks, I have a mealworm and some honey for them. If the two workers died however, could I try this?

Yeah

[sirjordanncurtis]

Would this work for newly mated queens? Like combining a colony with a dead queen with a queen which just became fertile?

[YsTheAnt]

Would this work for newly mated queens? Like combining a colony with a dead queen with a queen which just became fertile?

Probably

[IcarusSkybound]

Yeah, I have done this as well. Recently had a V. pergandei with about 10 workers whose queen died, and another workerless queen with lots of pupae and larvae. I put both colonies in the fridge for about 15 min, took them out, and placed the queenless colony with the other queen and they got along fine.

Do you know if this will work with majors? I have a lone Camponotus Pennsylvanicus major and a queen whose workers have all died out. She tried a few times to lay more eggs but she seems rather inept. All of her eggs/larvae have died off. If I refrigerate and introduce them do they have a good chance of getting along?