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hi
my lasius niger colony is still in the test tube after 2 weeks of bein inside the fish tank iam keeping them in.
but also my tank is kept outside inside my shed so i hav to keep them under a heat lamp to make sure they dont freeze
ehat should i do.
sithmaster676
Low temperatures shouldn't worry you. Ants prepair for it. Queens stop laying eggs. Larva is the only type of pre ant stage that survives winter. And they lose a lot of water when temperatures are low. This is why they look wrinkeld.
Ants eat alot before winter. They eat more and gain some body fat which will keep them alive during hibernation. They also empty their intestins and social stomach. In doing so ants body fluids become more dense and contain less water and more salt. This is how ants can survive also temperatures below zero. During hibernation they don't move much so they don't burn a lot of energy.
Test tube is perfect for hibernating when your ants hibernate in refridgerator. Temperature is constant there, around 5 oC. So consider keeping them in fridge rather then outside where frost might get to them. Just make sure you bring down the temperatures gradually. If now they are at 20 oC, put them somwhere where they'll be at 10 - 15 oC for a week or two and then you can put them in fridge. Make sure that there is enough water in test tube and make sure there isn't too much water in there. During hibernation most ants die because of drowning or because there isn't enough water.
Good luck
well sad mpir.
and good luck sithmaster676
greets
Hello all...I hope that you may be able to help, I have just purchased my first colony of Lasius niger and they should be arriving within the next week....My question is this...I understand that hibernation is a requirment...now when my new colony arrive...what is it best for me to do?
Just put the test tube containing the colony into the fridge?
I appreciate this sounds like a really stupid question, in the mean time I shall now start reading the previous posts on this forum to get further information.
Many thanks
Dave.
hi
i have had my colony for about 4 weeks now and still havnt moved out of the test tube :(
so what i am doin this year is to prevent them from hibernating as i believe they would not survive the 3 months of hibernation they require it depends if antstore feed the colony well then they may survive the winter but i do not know how antstore feed there products. :grin:
i to have a lasius niger colony which is kept outside in my shed
sithmaster676
@ pylofm
you can keep them somewhere at temperature from 10 to 15 oC for a week or so. But I think that you will notice quite quickly that they are passive and they don't move much. This means that they are in "hibernate mode" so you can put them in the fridge.
good luck
Most of the European ants are in hibernation right now. So it is best to keep them in it. wait until march to wake them up. it is better for the queen and colony.
@sithmaster676: if you are keeping the colony outside how do you keep the temperature above 15°C so they don't start there hibernation ? I must say, maybe they better do, there is a big chance antstore give them food enough to survive until after hibernation. al they need right now is water.
Greets
i have a heat lamp on them to keep the heat at around 15-20 °C and through out the course of the night it is around 4°C but as the weather is colder now the tank is about 12°C through out the day.
Sithmaster676
Most of my species are ending there hibernation. Looks like they are doing fine.
My south European ants ended there hibernation about 2 weeks ago, now my middle European ants are waking up to. ;)
How are your (everybody) ants doing ?
Does Messor ebeninus need hibernation?