24 replies to this topic

[kellakk]

The agar can mold, but so can cotton. In terms of getting stuck or drowning, I think as long as you're careful in setting up the tube and choosing which queens can go in the tube, it'd be fine.  I wouldn't use an agar tube with ants that are too small to dig or don't normally dig much in the wild.  My Dorymyrmex spp. seem to be comfortable in the agar, they take a longer time to dig than the V. pergandei or the P. rugosus but they still each have tunnels reaching all the way to the back.

[antsinmypants]

As a newbie, could you enlighten me with this agar recipe? My house gets up to 86-87 degrees in the summer. Will it melt and drown my ants?

[kellakk]

This is my technique. I heat water to a rolling boil (it has to be really hot or else the agar won't dissolve), then mix it with the agar agar powder in about a 6:1 ratio of water to agar (by volume).  You'll know it's mixed when the mixture starts to feel very viscous.  Once it's mixed, I just pour it into test tubes to about 3/4 way up until I run out of the agar.  Afterward, I put it in the fridge to cool overnight and let any water "sweat" out of it (putting a strip of paper at the top touching the agar would help wick any excess water out). From then on you can use the tubes just like a normal test tube.

 

The agar tubes won't melt, they need really high temperatures (>100 degrees C) to dissolve.  Like I said though, the agar can sweat a little which could potentially drown your ants.  It's best to be patient in letting the agar cool down so any excess water is removed.

[kellakk]

4-23-15

 

I took them away from heat, so the brood is taking forever to develop.  The two queens with workers each got small outworlds to forage in, and the workers take full advantage of it.

[kellakk]

6-10-15

 

These colonies are developing at a quicker rate now that the weather is warm again.  One colony has 15 workers with at least 20 pupae, while the other has 12 workers and about the same number of pupae.  The other queens I had died.