9 replies to this topic

[r.shirillz]

While splitting logs yesterday, found two logs that had queens. I was able to grab both queens, and I grabbed a single worker with one of the queens. Many more logs were split that had workers and brood. I didn't get any of those workers for fear of them being from a different colony, but I did get a ton of the brood. I got my mini hearth and a test tube set up. Split the brood in half for each queen. The queen with the worker is in the mini hearth. There is water in both the tower and nestmate. When I first put them in, the worker started moving the brood that I placed in there, but stopped once she had moved half of them around for a bit. Now all three ants just hold still. I put sunburst in the foraging area for the mini hearth, and also a drop on a small piece of aluminum foil in the test tube. People have told me to get them down to between 40-50*F, but it is still 70 during the day and 60 at night where I live. Should they be holding still right now, even though its warm where I have them? Should I give them protein like fruit flies/cricket leg even though they don't move? I really would like these ones to survive since I only found one over the summer and she died.

[Pleming]

When capturing queens that have already developed workers, its best to try and grab as many workers as you can. In your circumstances it was hard to do this. 

 

I am confused on the temperature. If you are hibernating them then that is a good a temperature, if not then they need to be higher. It depends on where you live. I live in Southern California and its still warm here and I'm not going to hibernate mine until next month. 

 

Also if you grabbed larvae with the brood then they will need a protein source. 

 

Its normal for ants to stay still for long periods of time. In the founding stages some of my queens barely move for days. 

 

With the limited amount of information its hard to say what's going on with your ants. 

[r.shirillz]

I didn't want to ramble on and make my original post any longer than it was, but I will explain the temperature situation in more detail now

 

Right now my whole house is neither heated nor cooled. They are in my room (ground level). My basement is a bit cooler than ground level right now, but I don't want to move them for two reasons. First, it is still very warm here in PA, and I do not think that they should be hibernating (I could very well be wrong). Second, when the weather starts to dip to the point where we need heat, (next week perhaps) we have a wood burner in the basement that we use to heat the house. I don't want to move them down to the basement and have to move them again when we light the wood burner very shortly, for fear of disturbing them too much. Now, there is a room on the ground level of my house that has low traffic and never gets heat or air conditioning. Its still warmer in there than my room right now due to the sun, but when it gets cold, that room is probably where I will have them for hibernation. I just have to buy a thermometer so that I can be sure it is a good temperature. If this is/isn't enough info, let me know what i should do, or ask questions that would help you understand my situation more. I doubt my parents will let me run the mini fridge all winter for some ants lol.     

 

I would be happy putting them in a much cooler space if they would just eat, but they have not moved. I also don't want to heat them up to try and get them to eat because I know that isn't good either.

 

I don't think there is larvae, I had one guy tell me that it was all first stage brood, and Miles Maxcer (Idk if you know about him, he does a lot with ants I believe) told me that the brood was in second instar diapause form... Never even heard of that before personally.

Edited by r.shirillz, October 9 2017 - 1:22 PM.

[Runner12]

Camponotus larvae have a tendency to get arrested at the second instar stage, probably for hibernation in this instance. They'll overwinter ok, but I'd let the pupae eclose before you start cooling them, they generally don't make it through that well.

Edited by Runner12, October 9 2017 - 1:47 PM.

[Pleming]

I would consider buying a heating cable. 

 

 

How are they doing now?

[r.shirillz]

Update: test tube queen died. I have the queen and worker in the mini hearth in my room. The left 1/3 of the mini hearth is sitting on a heat mat. I can get the worker to eat byformica sunburst, and maybe some sugar water. They don’t seem to like honey, and I can’t seem to find them a protein source. I only have pre killed mealworms, which are basically a hallow crunchy shell. I gave them tiny pieces of chicken, which so far they have not eaten. I tried fruit flies about a week or two ago. They didn’t seem to eat them either. I’m amazed that they are alive without eating protein for this long. They don’t move much, and the queen especially barely moves. I don’t want to go buy crickets because I hate having them, and also, they couldn’t even eat a single cricket right now. Any help is appreciated.

[Pleming]

During the founding stages when you have very few workers they won't eat much. Sometimes it will look like they aren't eating at all. Just make sure they have food, water, and a sugar source and you'll be fine. Some colonies won't accept food until the worker count rises. My honeypots didn't eat for weeks after the first workers arrived. 

[r.shirillz]

It’s weird though because this technically isn’t the founding stage. Hopefully I’m just worrying too much.

[Pleming]

I think the colonies you caught were still in there founding stage. If they weren't you would have seen tons of ants near the brood and queen. 

[r.shirillz]

Unfortunately there were quite a bit of both, I was able to get the brood, not the workers.

Edited by r.shirillz, October 16 2017 - 6:41 PM.