3 replies to this topic

[szalejot]

The queen of my harvester ants colony died, leaving about 60 workers + eggs and larvae.

The conditions are rather good (nest temperature 24-28 degrees, moisture, drinking water, and food in abundance), especially since the workers are not dying. And the queen was young, from 2019, but well.

Now what to do with the remaining colony?

I have seen articles that you can try to do a queen adoption. But it is recommended to do it in the refrigerator where temperatures are too low for harvester ants. Additionally, it is advised to add one worker at a time to tube with the queen, which in the case of 60 will be a long process and nearly impossible to carry out in one tube with a new queen.

Hold and wait until they die off naturally? A bit of a gloomy vision to observe the colony dying and clean up more dead bodies.

Release them into the forest? They will definitely not live long, so it will be rather a slow death sentence for the remaining workers.

What are you, as more experienced growers, doing in these situations?

[ponerinecat]

You can either euthanize them via a chemical kill jar or the freezer, or take the time to clean each worker of pheromones and introduce them to a new queen with some precautions.

[AntsDakota]

I would try queen a queen introduction. First introduce a couple workers to the new queen in her test tube. If they accept her and vise versa (queens can be nasty sometimes, even worse than workers), then you could put the open tube in the outworld and allow the workers to find her and bring her to their nest. I've had success with these types of introductions without a refrigerator. If they don't accept, then remove the workers. 

 

If the aforementioned method fails, then you should fasten a sheet of metal mesh around the outside of the test tube, replacing the cotton ball which would be there otherwise. Then place it in the outworld near the nest or even attach it to the nest itself. This allows the queen to take on the workers' pheromonal ID over the course of 2-3 weeks. Once this time has elapsed, you may conduct a full-on introduction (removing the mesh).

[szalejot]

I would try queen a queen introduction. First introduce a couple workers to the new queen in her test tube. If they accept her and vise versa (queens can be nasty sometimes, even worse than workers), then you could put the open tube in the outworld and allow the workers to find her and bring her to their nest. I've had success with these types of introductions without a refrigerator. If they don't accept, then remove the workers. 

 

If the aforementioned method fails, then you should fasten a sheet of metal mesh around the outside of the test tube, replacing the cotton ball which would be there otherwise. Then place it in the outworld near the nest or even attach it to the nest itself. This allows the queen to take on the workers' pheromonal ID over the course of 2-3 weeks. Once this time has elapsed, you may conduct a full-on introduction (removing the mesh).

 

Thanks for tips.

I will get a new queen and try this procedure.