ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Olaf]

Hello everyone,
This year i am hoping to finaly keep a colony with a queen.
To this point I have only ever kept colonies of workers and brood alone so I can get used to things. I still don't feel I will be good enough to look after queens but i wont know until i get one. But before I do, I have ALOT of questions that I need answering. Please help:

1) Should I get a queen during the flights, capture one or buy one? What ever the answer please can you tell me the method of how to to look after the queen when I first get her.

2) Should I consider boosting? Once again can you please include your ways of boosting. (eg. What to boost with and if you chill yours)

3)What is the best diet for Lasius Niger and Lasius Flavus colonies. (Such as insects dead or alive,fruit, sweet foods etc.)

4)What is the average temperature and humidity for Lasius Flavus and Lasius Niger and how to I obtain and keep both?

5) What are the vital points in caring for a queen, things that ensure her and the colonies survival?

6) Finaly (For Now), What is the best formicarium to use and is an AntWorld suitable?

[SteveUK28]

Ok.. simply.. the information you need is all here in the forum.. just look around and read for yourself and you will find more than what you need... BTW

[Olaf]

Thanks ill look around.
But i will still bethanful for any opinions on obtaining queens and personal methods on boosting, feeding andcatching your ants.

[akell]

Hi Olaf,
I think almost anything is better that an Antworld. If you don't want to get a little basin from the store, a big jar or a glass vase will work out a lot better. For colonies of small ants like niger and flavus, you could just wrap the test tube they come in with aluminium foil, make a plug with kitchen paper and cellotape and attach it to another "arena" test tube if you want to be able to watch the brood develop. You can "unplug" the tubes and put a little scrap of paper soaked in sugar water or a pinch of canned tuna (in water) in the "arena". then you can just rinse out your arena test tube when you need to.
It's not a permanent thing of course, but it is a great way to observe what's happening. Just an idea
(Sorry for all the quotation marks, it's late...)