Lasius niger:
I have had a L.niger colony for about a year now. There is a single Queen, about 25 workers and a huge pile of brood. However, it has been this way for man months, no growth which is weird. They have been eating, the larva have black stomachs. As much as I would like them to grow more, she is the oldest Queen I have owned. This year, I collected more Queens. I have a 5 Queen colony and a 2 Queen colony. They are both healthy and have enormous piles of brood, including small larvae.
Lasius flavus:
This is the first year I have collected flavus. I have 3 colonies. The first 2 are in red tinted test tubes and have 4 Queens in both. It is hard to tell if they have any brood but I think that both colonies do. The third has 2 Queens and they are in a gel-less gel ant farm filled with fine dirt and sand. At first, they didn't dig so I used a pencil to create a shaft for them. They immediately moved in and dug out a small chamber. They have also dug 2 horizontal tunnels either side. Fortunately they are right up against the glass so I can see that they have a smaller pile of brood. They have not sealed the tunnel.
That is all for now, I will keep you all informed. Thank you for reading,
Alex