10 replies to this topic

[Toddsnake]

This is a formicarium I created to hopefully figure a way to remove the Camponotus and move them to a regular formicarium.  The 2 x 4 has many hollow areas and tunnels running through it and as I was sawing it they were swarming all over the board until I stopped sawing, then they ran back inside.  I think the queen is in there...but have not visually seen her.  I have checked the area where I removed the board an have not seen any more of these type ants in the area.  Made the Outworld from a 2.5 gallon water container I bought at Walmart yesterday.  Added some dirt, bits of wood, and leaf litter along with plenty of the bugs that were crawling through the decaying leaf litter.  Drilled over 100 holes in the white screw-on lid of the water container, 1/32 holes.  Getting a lot of condensation inside the outworld....maybe needs better ventilation?

 

Not sure what species Camponotus they are, maybe close-up photo will help someone identify them for me!  Workers are 10mm long.

 

 

 

 

[nurbs]

Just to clarify your intent, you suspect the colony and queen is in the wooden board, and you want to lure them out?

 

Try drying out the board. Leave it outside during the day, maybe in the shade of your patio, and let the board manually dry out. Put fluon along the sides of the bin or container so they cannot crawl out. Leave several test tube setups inside the container, and the ants may slowly migrate to it. Maybe have one test tube setup with sugar water. Just by your images, the setup looks sealed, so it will retain moisture and the colony will not move. You don't need an outworld at this point.

 

OR - you can use the direct approach - kill a mosquito with a canon - and sledgehammer the board to smithereens.

[Toddsnake]

Yes, I want to lure them out...hoping the queen is there.  Where is the best place to get fluon?  Is it available at some type of local store, or only online?  I have read some post about Camponotus walking right over the fluon sometimes....? Was kind of afraid if I leave it open they would all escape back into the yard... I am keeping it outside on my patio that is covered so it is not in direct sunlight.  I was hoping the moist outworld would lure them into it because the ice-chest area is dry.   The test tube setups your talking about, are they just like the setup you do for a founding queen, but no cotton to block the entrance?

One thought I had was to very very slowly fill the ice-chest with water and anchor the board down so it can't float up.  Maybe they would all be forced to the top of the board where I could attach some clear tubing that leads up into a formicarium...  Would their natural instincts be to move to higher ground.. I don"t want to drown them!

[antnest8]

you can try to flood them out. also you can try baby(talcum) powder with alcohol instead of fluon.

[FeedTheAnts]

I wish you luck with this but I highly, highly doubt it is gonna work. Camponotus don't really mind if the nest is dry, so if you try drying them out then it will take a long time before they budge.  Also, flooding them is unlikely to work and would set you way back on the whole drying process. If you really want a Carpenter Ant colony then I would go to some place with a lot of rotting wood and pick apart a few pieces of log with your hands. Ignore any colonies that look large and try not to disturb them(you don't want to cause damage), be patient and wait until you come across a young colony(maybe ten or so workers) in a little cranny and dump them in a bucket with a test tube setup. 90% chance you will be successful after only 30 minutes of looking. Trust me, I've done this lots of times and Camponotus aren't hard to find.

[anttics]

I have been successful moving colonies with heat. I suggest you put ice on top of the log. and warm up the formicarium. they will move at night. trust me.

[Toddsnake]

Anttics, how would you recommend I heat it?  Heating pad underneath the ice chest, heat lamp inside ice chest, setting the whole setup out in direct sunlight?  Heating it would quickly melt the ice getting water everywhere, unless I use some type of self contained freezer pack.  Not sure how many ants are in there, should I disconnect the out-world and connect to the new formicarium I bought or to a test-tube setup?

 

Thanks

Todd

[anttics]

try this. get a plastic bag that can cover the whole lot. put ice inside it. connect the log via a tube to the ice chest. make sure they can not escape in any other direction. second part get the ice chest hot. no more than 90 degrees. try to heat from above not under. a heat pad would work. but I believe the ice chest is too big. if you can get something smaller and easier to heat up. like a food container. put some test tubes inside or make sure it's humid. heat up and wait. it usually takes a day for a colony of 700 ants to.move where I want them too. ants and.all brood included

[AntsMaryland]

Or you could take a hammer and break the wood into little tiny pieces and hope for the best...

 

(Joking- don't do this...)

[anttics]

Or you could take a hammer and break the wood into little tiny pieces and hope for the best...

(Joking- don't do this...)

lol that's the thug way of ant keeping. Do it as a last resort.

[AntsMaryland]

 

Or you could take a hammer and break the wood into little tiny pieces and hope for the best...

(Joking- don't do this...)

lol that's the thug way of ant keeping. Do it as a last resort.

 

Sigh... dealing with these ants...