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Queenless colony merge


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7 replies to this topic

#1 Offline Air - Posted July 22 2016 - 2:36 PM

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So, I found a queenless Camponotus Floridanus colony, and I decided to merge them. ATM I have 2 sheets of metal mesh (The kind from an old window frame) together with one colony of queenless workers (10) and a queen. I will leave the mesh on for about 2 weeks, or until they chew through it.


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#2 Offline Air - Posted July 22 2016 - 7:20 PM

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Queen is trying to strike worker behind the mesh



#3 Offline Air - Posted July 22 2016 - 9:00 PM

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Success! Queen has accepted a median worker after I chilled them. 



#4 Offline ctantkeeper - Posted July 23 2016 - 12:10 AM

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this is awesome, I tried to create a prototype that would do something similar to this (an adapter that would hold two test tube setups together) with little success.  This vaguely reminds me of queen cages used for beekeeping. Glad to see it worked out. Keep us updated. Btw, how did the media worker except the queen if the mesh was still in place?



#5 Offline Air - Posted July 23 2016 - 7:30 AM

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I removed the mesh, and put her into the testtube with the queen while they were cold, they nipped but are now happy.


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#6 Offline dspdrew - Posted July 24 2016 - 8:41 AM

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I've been wanting to try this. I have merged quite a few colonies together, but not using this method. I've actually been thinking of designing a utility for doing this that works the same way.



#7 Offline sgheaton - Posted July 25 2016 - 12:52 PM

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Do what they do for honey bees - Trap the queen behind a screened in box and drill a hole in the box. Fill the hole with sugary goodie sweets that the two must eat from both sides to get out. Everyone gets fed sugary goodness and come out happy. And that it allowed enough time for pheromones'n'such to exchange/wash over. 


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#8 Offline ParaStatic - Posted August 11 2016 - 9:52 AM

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I do something similar to that when I try to merge workers. I have found majors to be the hardest to get to adapt to a new queen. But have been successful many times replacing queens. Just attaching the new queen to the nest with a barrier (I use SS mesh) for a few weeks does the trick.
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