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Billster333: A few questions before I begin my farm. (21. Jul 2013 14:42)

I'm just about to start my ant farm, but I have a few questions.

1. When I receive my delivery tube with queen and workers inside, will they eventually move out from the tube and dig their homes in the soil, or do they need a little encouragement?

2. What happens when it's mating season, and the flying ants begin to emerge, what do I do??

3. Also, in regards to hydration, I've seen a previous post asking this, what exactly do I have to do took keep the farm hydrated?

Makka: Re: A few questions before I begin my farm. (23. Jul 2013 02:18)

hey, i too have started a new colony. seems they will stay in the tube until it gets too small. that could take a year. mine have taken sand from their habitat and built 2 walls, one where the queen and eggs are and the second they have moved brood too :D look on the bright side, you get a year of good viewing :)

i'd guess you could take them out when they emerge and put them in a big tank to mate and keep the new queen's? but that won't happen for a few years anyway. please do NOT let them fly off outside, adding foreign ants or even foreign sourced native ants to your native region could become a huge problem, like really big. besides that its against the law in most places anyway. - just look at florida and the burmese python problem.

for hydration, i have added a drinking straw down one side of the sand to the clay bottom, just add water from here when needed and top it with a bit of cotton wool to stop ants getting down there.

hope iv helped a bit
regards