17 replies to this topic

[ben_zach]

HI All,

 

My son and I have just put together a new colony with Camponotus aeneopilosus in a Tar Heel Mini Hearth - all is going ok so far.

 

However over the last few days our nest mate has started to be depleted very rapidly.

 

We fill up the tube and overnight and most of the day it was static - then from the night around dinner time the water in the nest mate was depleted over a few hours.

 

I figured that either its leaking or the colony is drinking it. The MIni Hearth has a wter tower that is filled up however the queen and eggs are positioned under the nest mate. 

 

Anys thoughts or tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Ben

 

 

[ANTdrew]

Is the chamber inside getting saturated? If not, the water is either evaporating or the ants are drinking it. If you're heating the nest, that causes rapid evaporation. Maybe try moving the heat source farther away from the nest mate or cutting out artificial heat if your house is warming up. If the ants are going through that much water, I really suggest buying some micro-liquid feeders from byFormica to put up in the out world.

[ben_zach]

Thanks for the quick reply ANTdrew - its hard to tell if the chamber is wet, I don;t think so. For the most part of the day the tube remained at a constant level - my assumption was that if the nest mate was leaking then it would do so constantly and not randomly.

 

I have a liquid feeder in the out world but it contains sunburst nectare currently - I can put another one with water in there as well. 

 

With the built in water tower in the Mini Hearth - its 3/4 full - does this also allow the ants to drink from it - or is primarily for humidity. 

 

Thanks for your guidance. 

[ANTdrew]

I think it would be pretty obvious if the nest mate was leaking, so you can rule that out. I don't think the ants can really drink from the water tower unless you overfilled it a bit, but that has obvious risks. You could also hook the whole nest to a bigger out world with tubing and put some test tubes set ups in there for water. Don't leave much space so the ants won't move into the test tube.

[ben_zach]

OK thanks for the tips - I'll keep a closer eye on things and let you guys know how it looks in a few days. Thanks for the assistance. Enjoy the weekend.

[ben_zach]

Sorry one other quick question I did think of - how far into the nest would you insert the nest mate - I had it pushed in a few centimetres and the ants were crawling into the home to get to the water but it felt like the nest mate was in contact with the substrate and this caused more water to seep our - then I pushed it in to nearly half way but now thinking maybe this isn’t correct either - any thoughts on this would be great.

[Joehostile85]

If the nest mate was in contact with the substrate than that is probably why it leaked out. The ants can also cause the nest mate to leak by putting seeds, substrate, larvae, food, ect against the mesh. That’s the only way they can “leak” if the top is properly plugged.

[PwnerPie]

I had the same issue. It was due to the plug not being completely smooth. Sanded it with very fine sand paper, now it is good to go

[ben_zach]

Ok thanks for the info.

PawnrPie - When you mean the plug do you mean the mesh end or the rubber stopper?

I will take a look at both ends and check.

[thosaka]

Yeah. I have 5 minihearths, and when I pour water into the nest mate tube as slowly as possible, the water goes straight through the net immediately. I think it has something to do with the net and the way it is glued to the tube. Either way, 3 of the 5 of the nest mates are defective.

[YsTheAnt]

The rubber stopper would be the issue, I wouldn't mess with the mesh.

[ben_zach]

Ok thanks for the tips.
So far so good for today. Took the nest mate out and filled it up with my finger over the mesh to stop it leaking - left a little air space and then pushed the rubber stopper in as hard as possible and the seal/pressure seem good.

Last five hours have seen very little movement in the levels of the nest mate so fingers crossed it was the rubber stopper..!!

Edited by ben_zach, April 12 2019 - 7:24 PM.

[Joehostile85]

Yeah. I have 5 minihearths, and when I pour water into the nest mate tube as slowly as possible, the water goes straight through the net immediately. I think it has something to do with the net and the way it is glued to the tube. Either way, 3 of the 5 of the nest mates are defective.

It’s not the screen mesh that keeps the water from pouring out. It has to do with barometric pressure and the fact that filling the tube with water pushes the air out. It only works if one end is 100% plugged.

In fact you don’t need screen mesh or any barrier on the other end for this principal to work. You can try it yourself with just a piece of tube. Cover one end of the tube with your thumb then pour water into the tube. You can now turn the tube upside down and no water will pour out as long as you keep your thumb in place.

To fill your nestmates you have three options.
1. Place the nestmate in a cup of water and plug the end while it is underwater.
2. Place your thumb over the screen, fill the nest mate and then plug the other end while keeping your thumb in place.
3. Plug the nestmate and then insert a needle through the screen to fill it.

Edited by Joehostile85, April 12 2019 - 9:17 PM.

[ben_zach]

Awesome thanks for the info Joe

[ANTdrew]

THA is great, but I’ve had a lot of leaking issues from all their liquid feeders/ nestmates. ByFormica feeders are the way to go for me. Those leak, too, if ants stick a bunch of trash on them or the liquid ferments.

[PwnerPie]

I am referring to the stopper. The mesh does not affect the water flow. The mesh is to prevent ants from going in

[Rstheant]

You need a vacuum.

[Carpenter]

Try inserting the stopper at least 1mm into the tube so that there is a bit of tube lip above it. You will want to keep the mesh tip under water or slowing water to keep it full while you do this