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[Mirandarachnid]

Hey guys!

 

So I have this queen http://www.formicult...arillo-tx-7418/ that I caught in July. She has not laid any eggs yet, but I assume she's waiting to hibernate. 

 

Well, life got away from me a little bit, and it wasn't until the beginning of November that I remembered I needed to hibernate her. Now, I have a mini-fridge that I've tweaked the settings on to keep it around 45-50F. My concern is that her test tube had gotten very low on water, so I wanted to move her into a new one before I put her in the fridge. I set up a new tube and taped it to her old one. The new tube is wrapped in foil, so it's dark, old tube is left exposed to the light. It's been a few weeks, but she hasn't moved into the new one. I'd really like to get her hibernating soon. 

 

Should I move her manually?

 

Would it be okay to put the double tube in the fridge? I worry about the lack of ventilation with them taped together.

 

Is that temperature range acceptable for hibernation of this sp?

 

When I do move her into the fridge, would it be a good idea to place her in it before I turn it on so that she cools gradually?

 

About how long should I hibernate her for? Would four months be acceptable?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm really kicking myself for waiting so long on this. 

[ANTdrew]

Good post! I've been wondering many of the same things as I've been hibernating three of my own Crematogaster for five weeks now. It sounds like your fridge is at a good temperature to me. I've decided to give mine about 10 weeks, and then I'll heat them. I did change their tubes due to mold issues. To do that I just manually tapped them until they fell in the new tube. They don't have any brood, so I think that it is fine to move them like this. It's just my impression, but these queens seem really tough to me. Best of luck!