23 replies to this topic

[KadinB]

I caught 8 queens a few months ago and traded/sold/selling some of them. I kept a queen my self and have been raising it ever since. The colony has around 50 workers (2nd gen) and are getting another right now and will reach around 70-80 after they all become workers! The queen already laid a batch of around 50 eggs for the next generation. I will be posting pictures of them and their set up. The colony is about 3 and a half months old.

[KadinB]

Here’s some pictures! As I was taking pictures I saw a few workers crawling along the lid….. which means some escaped. I had to reapply some baby powder. Pictures also suck to. AC stuff is scratched.








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[KadinB]

Forgot to mention. These queens were just caught near my back yard light. 7/8 were mated. One died and still had wings on but most kept wings on during founding and got workers.


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Edited by KadinB, August 15 2021 - 12:24 PM.

[KadinB]

The queen laid a ton more eggs and they are getting more workers everyday. Next generation should have them triple in size!

[KadinB]

Gonna be moving these guys into one of my diy firebrick nest. We'll see how it goes! Hopefully their not to small for the nest and can escape or something.

[KadinB]

I don't think I'm gonna be moving them into the fire brick nest. They are to small for it. They also started to escape again! I saw around 5 workers crawling around on the lid of they're out world. I think a good amount escaped. I see around 35 workers in the colony rn. I may move them into a mini hearth. I will might not move them in because I'm trying to have my friend get some honey pot's and give him the nest. He says he doesn't want to spend $45 on a nest and $25 on some mimicus. But I'm hoping he will buy the pot's. If he doesn't I will update this and let you all know if he decides to or not. Can they also escape hearths at all? Or chew through them?

[KadinB]

Gonna probably try to trade for a hearth for these guys. Will update on how that goes.

[KadinB]

I expect next generation to be massive. They are not being heated also with a heating cable and they love the heat. They have around 50 pupae and 35 larvae. I can't tell if there's eggs at all. I am gonna need a mini hearth for them very soon... I may move them into a XL I'm getting soon. Will post pics this weekend. Hopefully I can get a pic of the brood pile before they all become workers.

[KadinB]

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[That_one_ant_guy]

May I ask what the plants(I think)on the cotton are?

[KadinB]

May I ask what the plants(I think)on the cotton are?

Oh hahahah. I put in some seeds for them to play around with since they love to move stuff around and they have germinated lol. Should have mentioned it lol.

[KadinB]

Here’s a pic of them eating from today’s meal. These guys love sugar water.






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[KadinB]

Update! I got there hearht XL today. I just dumped them into it and now I'm waiting for them to move in. These guys will probably do a lot more better in there! Will post pictures this weekend.

[KadinB]

Nvm got some pics just now. They moved in as soon as they got dumped.








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[KadinB]

Holy crap! I just looked at these pictures and they sure are out dated! Wow this amazes me. The colony is doing very well rn. They are at 100-130 workers now. they can be seen in this video here. I have been to busy to update any of my journals.

(303) Liometopum occidental running around in circles around feeder - YouTube

Edited by KadinB, October 11 2021 - 9:20 PM.

[KadinB]

This colony is doing very well now! They are at about 150 workers now. They are growing like heck. I have been feeding them lot's of mealworms and recently fruit fly's. Here's some pics below.

They are also being heated too with a heating cable. They also like to run around in circles on their feeder too which is cool to watch. Here's a link on my youtube channel of them doing that.

 

(303) Liometopum occidental running around in circles around feeder - YouTube

Edited by KadinB, October 11 2021 - 9:18 PM.

[KadinB]

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[NancyZamora4991]

wow that's a lot of brood

[KadinB]

I just realized last night that the colony had went from 20 workers to 150+ in one month!

[antsriondel]

update???