6k, wow! I’m doing my best here to catch up to you. My Divas are probably where the Valentines were last year.

Your colony may top off larger than mine. This could be an experiment to see which species has a larger colony size at maturity, cerasi or ashmeadi. 

 

6k, wow! I’m doing my best here to catch up to you. My Divas are probably where the Valentines were last year.

Your colony may top off larger than mine. This could be an experiment to see which species has a larger colony size at maturity, cerasi or ashmeadi. 

 

Challenge accepted. Pretty scary, tbh.

If one doesn't break loose first............

 

6k, wow! I’m doing my best here to catch up to you. My Divas are probably where the Valentines were last year.

Your colony may top off larger than mine. This could be an experiment to see which species has a larger colony size at maturity, cerasi or ashmeadi. 

 

I believe C. ashmeadi have smaller colonies.

We'll see. After all, one doesn't get an example of prime parenting *cough cough* ashmeadi *Cough Cough* 

We'll see. After all, one doesn't get an example of prime parenting *cough cough* ashmeadi *Cough Cough* 

Say wha now! Are you insinuating.... 

It's really hard to show the entire colony in pictures, so I took a quick video of the Valentine's entire setup. They desperately need a new nest, and I'm halfway inclined to buy one of THA's most massive formicariums…. if my wallet will allow. I really need some ideas for a diy grout nest or something along those lines. A wooden nest would mold in the presence of so much ant... you know. I need something more permanent.

You should honestly just get another hybrid nest. Those things are really not that useful unless you have a colony this big, in which case they might actually be the best option for cost and convenience, as they are a lot cheaper and a bit more modular than THA nests.

You should honestly just get another hybrid nest. Those things are really not that useful unless you have a colony this big, in which case they might actually be the best option for cost and convenience, as they are a lot cheaper and a bit more modular than THA nests.

At this point I'm mostly concerned about presentation. The Valentines will not be moved from their Nucleus (except for cleaning once, maybe) for the rest of their lifetime (5+ more years). I've already ordered the Nucleus anyways, but I agree that the new Hybrid Nests are cost effective and convenient. 

 

You should honestly just get another hybrid nest. Those things are really not that useful unless you have a colony this big, in which case they might actually be the best option for cost and convenience, as they are a lot cheaper and a bit more modular than THA nests.

At this point I'm mostly concerned about presentation. The Valentines will not be moved from their Nucleus (except for cleaning once, maybe) for the rest of their lifetime (5+ more years). I've already ordered the Nucleus anyways, but I agree that the new Hybrid Nests are cost effective and convenient. 

 

One of those huge nucleus formicaria? I don't think I've ever heard of anyone needing one of those, other than Mack himself for his giant Formica colony. Truly impressive, I hope my Crematogaster get that big someday!

Edited by Antennal_Scrobe, June 5 2020 - 6:22 PM.

Ain’t you read my Crematogaster journal, bro? They’re filling one up as I type.

Sorry I didn't really make it clear, I was talking about the nucleus 360 - the biggest one sold by THA. As far as I know, that's the only one that could be a size upgrade from a hybrid nest.

-edit: I really should read your Crematogaster journal.

Edited by Antennal_Scrobe, June 5 2020 - 7:07 PM.

 

Ain’t you read my Crematogaster journal, bro? They’re filling one up as I type.

Sorry I didn't really make it clear, I was talking about the nucleus 360 - the biggest one sold by THA. As far as I know, that's the only one that could be a size upgrade from a hybrid nest.

 

-edit: I really should read your Crematogaster journal.

 

I didn't buy the 360 Nucleus btw. If you do the math though then even the regular Nucleus has more living area than the Hybrid Nest. I do intend on attaching a Mini Hearth to the Nucleus though, just to bump up the living quarters a bit.

Good call, plus that's just more glass for them to slip out of.

 

 

Ain’t you read my Crematogaster journal, bro? They’re filling one up as I type.

Sorry I didn't really make it clear, I was talking about the nucleus 360 - the biggest one sold by THA. As far as I know, that's the only one that could be a size upgrade from a hybrid nest.

 

-edit: I really should read your Crematogaster journal.

 

I didn't buy the 360 Nucleus btw. If you do the math though then even the regular Nucleus has more living area than the Hybrid Nest. I do intend on attaching a Mini Hearth to the Nucleus though, just to bump up the living quarters a bit.

 

Now that I think about it, the regular nucleus is double sided, isn't it?

 

 

 

Ain’t you read my Crematogaster journal, bro? They’re filling one up as I type.

Sorry I didn't really make it clear, I was talking about the nucleus 360 - the biggest one sold by THA. As far as I know, that's the only one that could be a size upgrade from a hybrid nest.

 

-edit: I really should read your Crematogaster journal.

 

I didn't buy the 360 Nucleus btw. If you do the math though then even the regular Nucleus has more living area than the Hybrid Nest. I do intend on attaching a Mini Hearth to the Nucleus though, just to bump up the living quarters a bit.

 

Now that I think about it, the regular nucleus is double sided, isn't it?

 

Yep.

Okay, quick update just so yal can know where I am with my colonies. Pics to come tomorrow.

First off, I no longer have the Formica subsericea colony or the Camponotus castaneus colony. The Formica were killed by The Valentines when The Valentines escaped, and the Camponotus castaneus simply died off. The Camponotus were quite a surprise, since they were doing fairly decent earlier in the year. Long story short, workers started dying and brood was disappearing. I tried a brood boost, but after putting all the brood in a pile then they just let it die. The dead brood grew mold, which meant I had to rotate their nest out, which the colony just couldn't take. 

And.... there's more bad news...

As I mentioned before, The Valentines had a large escape and die-off. 3 days ago their Nucleus arrived, so I started the process of getting them to move. I used extreme heat in their old nest as an incentive to move. I left the nest for a few hours and played piano. When I came back then they had not moved because so many workers had died in the old nest that there wasn't enough left to move the brood. Workers were standing at the opening of the Hybrid, looking back at their piles of larvae but not being able to save them for fear of being fried. About one fourth of the colony's workers died (not the queen, I've seen her since), which brings them down to a population of about 2000. I finally gave in and am letting them live in both the Hybrid and Nucleus, which are connected with a short piece of tubing.

Finally, some good news.

Nothing much to say about my other colonies (Camponotus chromaiodes and Formica pallidefulva) besides that they are doing great! Their nests are completely sealed, so they made it through the night of Crematogaster attacks. In the last week I've also caught 4 new queens, my favorite of which are the uncommon(at least here) Pheidole.