ANTSTORE World of Ants

[KiamCameron]

A colony only produces males and new queens every year if they have thousands of workers in there colony... or an established colony for there species like temnothroax nylanderi have only 200 in a colony I think they produce males and new queens when they have like 50 workers or so.

[JimmyVe]

The colonies don't need to be very big to produce males ore queens. Some of my colonies produced males and queens when they had 100 workers.

[badman]

I recommend getting a colony, not a queen on her own. The toughest time for a colony is when there is a solitary queen, and she doesn't always survive to see the first workers.

On one hand with a solitary queen you have the satisfaction of having started from scratch, on the other hand, the queen doesn't do much for months, and there's a stronger chance she'll die.

[Recalcitrant]

Hi All
Thanx again for the good advice, starting with a queen and a good few workers makes much more sense than a queen alone. I've decided to go for the basin with the walled farm area along one side (30x20x20). I like the idea of the full height foraging area and the chance to add some taller plants for a more natural effect. I assume I could always silicone in another walled area at a future date to expand the nesting area as the colony expands? Lastly, is this the correct medium for moisture retention at the bottom of the sand/loam mix?
Cheers David

[JimmyVe]

Yes you could use that, it will work fine.