Any updates? I'm really excited to see how these are doing

The reason for this was because they did not get past the egg stage, and some were already dying. Once they were added to the other colonies (already with workers), some were getting attacked, while others weren't. Hopefully they will accept the ones that do survive. 

Perhaps the colonies feel they have too many queens when the new ones were added. Even polygynous species will rid themselves of excess queens to conserve resources.

June 3, 2023: The Return of The Brachy's

After being away from the hobby for almost a year, for once I'm actually happy to catch these queens again. I lost almost all of my old colonies except for my Camponotus fragilis colony from 2019, and this summer, I decided to take it upon myself to take care of all my future colonies with the same amount of care. 

Lots of queens have been flying now that it's summer, so I'm equally distributing the colonies into sections as I used to do:

- Single queen

- Dual queens

- 3 Queens

- 5 Queens

- And most recently, 7 queens

3-5 queens is the sweet-spot, anything past 7 usually doesn't end well, and the queen's eggs don't develop as fast in my experience. Also going to put them in tubs and tubes setups as I can't keep track of these small ants in the natural setups, and they usually die out. I have an exciting video update if things go well. Hopefully will be finished by August or later.

Will show more recent photos soon since this photo was taken a month ago when I just caught them.

Edited by Ender Ants, July 8 2023 - 11:39 AM.

Love those Brachys!

Edited by antsriondel, July 2 2023 - 11:26 AM.

Those Brachys are EVERYWHERE after a hot summer day

August 9, 2023: First generation

Single Queen Colony:

Originally part of a 5 queen colony, but one queen killed all of them. She has around 10 workers.

Caught sometime later than the first catches of the year. They are still waiting on their first nanitics.

3 Queen Colony: Moved into Tubs & Tubes Setup

Most successful Brachymyrmex colony right now. Feeding them a lot, and making sure they won't dig into the sand. They have 30-40 workers.

 

5 Queen Colony: RIP Queen

The colony lost one queen for unknown reasons. Now being known as a 4-Queen colony, they have around 15 workers. 

7 Queen Colony: Waiting on cocoons

Colony has around 15 workers also, but more brood. Will probably move them into a tubs and tubes setup once they all hatch.

 

August 9, 2023: First generation

 

 

Single Queen Colony:

Originally part of a 5 queen colony, but one queen killed all of them. She has around 10 workers.

 

 

 

Dual Queen Colony:

Caught sometime later than the first catches of the year. They are still waiting on their first nanitics.

 

 

 

3 Queen Colony: Moved into Tubs & Tubes Setup

Most successful Brachymyrmex colony right now. Feeding them a lot, and making sure they won't dig into the sand. They have 30-40 workers.

 

 

 

 

5 Queen Colony: RIP Queen

The colony lost one queen for unknown reasons. Now being known as a 4-Queen colony, they have around 15 workers. 

 

 

 

7 Queen Colony: Waiting on cocoons

Colony has around 15 workers also, but more brood. Will probably move them into a tubs and tubes setup once they all hatch.

 

 

Nice! I remember waking up every morning to see if you had posted a new video on your brachymyrmex. Keep up the good work. 

 

 

August 9, 2023: First generation

 

 

Single Queen Colony:

Originally part of a 5 queen colony, but one queen killed all of them. She has around 10 workers.

 

 

 

Dual Queen Colony:

Caught sometime later than the first catches of the year. They are still waiting on their first nanitics.

 

 

 

3 Queen Colony: Moved into Tubs & Tubes Setup

Most successful Brachymyrmex colony right now. Feeding them a lot, and making sure they won't dig into the sand. They have 30-40 workers.

 

 

 

 

5 Queen Colony: RIP Queen

The colony lost one queen for unknown reasons. Now being known as a 4-Queen colony, they have around 15 workers. 

 

 

 

7 Queen Colony: Waiting on cocoons

Colony has around 15 workers also, but more brood. Will probably move them into a tubs and tubes setup once they all hatch.

 

 

Nice! I remember waking up every morning to see if you had posted a new video on your brachymyrmex. Keep up the good work. 

 

Thanks a lot, you've been here a while! I'm bringing back the colony updates for all my colonies next month and so on.