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Hi Adam,
The mites you have are not harmful, they feed on waste left by the ants as well as the refuse piles. I have kept colonies for many years with them and they won't harm the ants.
Hello Vasile yes i agree, :D , i have watched them for several weeks now and they do not interfere with the ants at all. They avoid contact with the ants and keep to the small crevices in the nest and scavange on the left overs in the trash pile.
Adam
Hey Guys some great news the first worker has eclosed, :P It is currently sitting amongst the brood pile under the queen moving slowly. I am glad , the worker count has dropped to 7 workers so these reinforcments are greatly needed. Also more pupae are darkening so hopfully now there should be a steady stream of workers emerging. I hope.
Pictures and maybe a video soon to follow. :grin:
Adam
:mrgreen:
Hi Adam,
congrats mate, hope it goes on well for you now, any pics?
Best
Major Spud
Hello Major , not at moment mate but will get some more pictures up over the weeeknd :D , Hopfully get a video done too.
Regards
Adam
Hello Guys well the colony is beginning to improve, it is down to one worker but with the new one eclosing the other day and some more eclosing since the worker population has gone up to 9 workers :grin: , the major soldier is still there and helping the queen with the brood but its starting to look promising.
Here is a few pictures and a video, hope you like guys. :D
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Will update again soon guys :grin:
Adam :mrgreen:
Hi Adam,
check the link below, pics of today feeding my colony some "gouda" middle-aged.
http://www.antstore.net/viewtopic.php?f=146&t=15351&p=147676#p147676
45% fat is what gets the party started....
Edit: great pics mate, hope they grow rapidly
Hello Major, Looking great mate, i will google translate it and look forward to reading your updates :grin:
Adam
just separated offshoot colony, lets see what happens.
Sounds great MajorSpud , hope it works out and you get anouther colony :P
Well guys anouther update and this one comes with mixed news. The colony is doing alright, it is certainly hanging in there. The plus side the pupae are eclosing and the worker population is now 15 workers. The major soldier died yestarday, it must of been over 5 weeks old and i dont know how long it had been alive since before i received them so im assuming old age was the cause.
Now heres the problem with my ants. Mites !!! Now i know i have seen the mites for awhile now and they havent bothered the colony at all. But since the large soldier has died and the last remaining old workers the mites have slowly moved closer to the nest chamber. This morning i have come to see somthing shocking. The mites are moving into the ant chamber and actually dragging the worker pupae away :shock: I have watched this. The new workers still pale dont know what to do. The queen is still laying but eggs are just being scattered around the floor and the pupae and remaining larvae are being dumped then collected back up. The Ants are clearly distressed by the mites, and now there are alot of mites !!!
Tonight when i get home from work i will be removing the remaining brood and workers and queen into a test tube for a few days. I will make sure no mites come with the ants :) . The the whole setup will be submerged into boiling hot water in my bathtub and allow to soak overnight. That should wipe out the nasty little beasts.
Mites may be harmless and feed on trash, but my colony is weak and not feeding itself properly. The mites proberly sense this and a nice juicy meal of pupae.
Anyway thats my update so far.
I hope i can get anouther colony of maybe a few thousand workers to add to my queen. that certainly should help things along im sure. :)
Regards
Adam