10 replies to this topic

[Kalidas]

Hey everyone, havent been on in a long long while.

How are you all doing? Sadly the Acromyrmex Ants I had caught last year didn't make it. Tried my best but the weather just got to them.

Was considering getting back into it again, hopefully with a much easier species lol. But a few months ago my car just totally crapped out on me and I had to trash it. So can't even really go drive out anywhere to catch any queens. But always excited to see what all you have going on.

[ANTdrew]

Bro!!! Welcome back, man.

[Kalidas]

Bro!!! Welcome back, man.

Thanks. How have you been? And how are the ants doing?

[Manitobant]

Welcome back! If you want an easier species solenopsis xyloni is almost always flying.

[ANTdrew]

Bro!!! Welcome back, man.

Thanks. How have you been? And how are the ants doing?

All good, man. My school and toddlers are nutso, but my ants have been a bright point. Look up my journals to see what you missed, but all my colonies have been super successful. I really hope you can get an easy queen to get back into this. It’s worth it.

Edited by ANTdrew, October 13 2019 - 8:42 AM.

[Kalidas]

Oh I try and avoid fire ants or other stinging ants I have two little boys in the house and I am very worried for break outs and my kids getting stung.

Really what I want and always wanted was a honey pot colony. I only had the leaf cutters because it's what I happened to get when I first went and it's all I caught. Drew then very nicely gifted me three more and some fungus for a VERY low price. Sadly I just had difficulty regulating the temperature where I live. We live in this like in law suite about my grandparents house and it has ZERO insulation. So winter was just too damn cold for the fungus. It was a very sad moment because one of the queens had so much progress I really thought it was going to work out... It did not.

What I really need to do is find a person who is willing to let me carpool with them and go ant queen hunting in exchange for gas money lol.

[ANTdrew]

Surely someone can sell you an easy queen for $20-30 bucks. That’s what I sold my queens for this year, and all are successful as far as I can tell. One Camponotus chromaiodes colony I sold made it to 50 workers and one major first year!

[Kalidas]

Just asked someone from the marketplace if they are still selling a Navajo queen. Would be pretty awesome

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Nice way to get back into ant keeping! I'll be excited to see your journal(s)!

[Kalidas]

Nice way to get back into ant keeping! I'll be excited to see your journal(s)!

Thanks me too.

Yeah either them or some harvester ants have been on my mind lately. I know they sting also but they don't have that hyper aggressive nature fire ants do. Plus I like their whole agricultural nature, it's what I loved about leaf cutters. The idea of having a tiny farming village sounds cool to me.

Edited by Kalidas, October 13 2019 - 3:15 PM.

[Kalidas]

Another genus that has me thinking are Camponotus. I saw that kurzgizart vid about the Argentine ant super colony and how they are killing off California carpenter ants, makes me want to do my part to help keep them alive and safe from these invasive pests