28 replies to this topic

[nurbs]

 

 

 

I have hundreds of colonies. Takes me less than 10 seconds to transfer a large colony from one test tube to another. I should make a video. Might shock some of you. But it works.

Looking forward to seeing your mystery technique!

 

 

 

Was feeding and cleaning today, and almost forgot to make a recording. So here it is.

 

 

I know you all have questions.

 

Does this stress out the ants?!

Yes. Probably worse. Apocalypse, the end of the world, all that stuff.

 

Does this kill the ants?
No. I've done this hundreds of times. Things that ants are sensitive to and will kill them are usually scent based - like paints or alcohol. Or poisonous food. Quick jerky movements for a short burst will not harm them.

 

But, BUT! Does this kill the ants?!

No. Not even one worker.

 

What if brood sticks to the test tube?

Moist wet qtip.

 

But, does this kill the ants?

No.

 

I don't want to stress them out!

It's OK. A little bit of stress in life is healthy.

 

Any questions? Class dismissed. 

 

Does this kill the ants?

 

 

You pose an excellent question Martialis.

[JasonD]

 

 

 

 

I have hundreds of colonies. Takes me less than 10 seconds to transfer a large colony from one test tube to another. I should make a video. Might shock some of you. But it works.

Looking forward to seeing your mystery technique!

 

 

 

Was feeding and cleaning today, and almost forgot to make a recording. So here it is.

 

 

I know you all have questions.

 

Does this stress out the ants?!

Yes. Probably worse. Apocalypse, the end of the world, all that stuff.

 

Does this kill the ants?
No. I've done this hundreds of times. Things that ants are sensitive to and will kill them are usually scent based - like paints or alcohol. Or poisonous food. Quick jerky movements for a short burst will not harm them.

 

But, BUT! Does this kill the ants?!

No. Not even one worker.

 

What if brood sticks to the test tube?

Moist wet qtip.

 

But, does this kill the ants?

No.

 

I don't want to stress them out!

It's OK. A little bit of stress in life is healthy.

 

Any questions? Class dismissed. 

 

Does this kill the ants?

 

 

You pose an excellent question Martialis.

 

 

I guarantee all of the ants Nurbs did this to will die. If you want immortal ants that will live to see the heat death of the universe, DO NOT DO THIS. 

[nurbs]

 

 

 

 

I guarantee all of the ants Nurbs did this to will die. If you want immortal ants that will live to see the heat death of the universe, DO NOT DO THIS. 

 

 

Been doing this for 7 years. How come they're all still alive?!?!

 

Check out my GAN listings. Not only are there a lot of species, but there are lots of species with the greatest number of workers compared to other GAN farmers.

 

EDIT: If you only have a few colonies, moving them in the more tradition method is fine. But when you have hundreds of colonies, that method is just not practical.

Edited by nurbs, December 25 2017 - 10:16 PM.

[T.C.]

 I do this with alot of colonies myself and rarely have issues of any kind. It's not a quick move that will kill them, but reptitive stress will. If he did this everyday to a colony, only then would it be an issue.

Edited by T.C., December 30 2017 - 12:37 PM.

[Mettcollsuss]

Content removed by author. 

Edited by Mettcollsuss, December 26 2017 - 3:59 AM.

[Skwiggledork]

@T.C - Did you read the whole comment? I am almost pretty sure that JasonD's comment was a tongue-in-cheek joke about ants not being immortal.   

[Serafine]

That should work for most ants, although there are SOME ants I wouldn't do that with, specifically Formica sanguinea and ants from the Formica rufa group (those are known to eject such amounts of formic acid that they can kill themselves if doing it in confined spaces). They can even kill themselves that way when sent via mail.

Edited by Serafine, December 26 2017 - 5:26 AM.

[JasonD]

 

 

 

 

 

I guarantee all of the ants Nurbs did this to will die. If you want immortal ants that will live to see the heat death of the universe, DO NOT DO THIS. 

 

 

Been doing this for 7 years. How come they're all still alive?!?!

 

Check out my GAN listings. Not only are there a lot of species, but there are lots of species with the greatest number of workers compared to other GAN farmers.

 

EDIT: If you only have a few colonies, moving them in the more tradition method is fine. But when you have hundreds of colonies, that method is just not practical.

 

 

It was indeed tongue and cheek - I thought the title of your video was pretty funny. 

[FeedTheAnts]

If I were doing it I would do it slightly more gently until the queen got moved and then go all out on the workers. I'd just be to worried that she would get a dented gaster or something.