ANTSTORE World of Ants

[ducatiman]

hi

i have a small colony of Camponotus ligniperda and soon they will need to be put in to hibernation,i have a beer fridge that stays at 8c (a good temp for them) i was thinking of putting them in it this winter but my only question is would they get stressed and possibly die if the get disturbed when i open the door
any help would be great

tom

[mpir]

Ants can die in hibernation from various reasons. I think the two most common are drowning or death due to lack of moisture. Stress can be fatal to as in hibernation ants try to preserve as much energy as possible. If you do decide to keep them in the fridge put them in some box or something so that they will be in the dark.

Good luck

btw: beer fridge... totally cool

[ducatiman]

thanks for the reply
the ants would be in the dark as they are in a basin,so would you recommend a fridge to hibernate them, it seems a good idea to me as the temp would be the same through out the whole time they are in there.also when they are in hibernation ,how alert are they? ie would viberations disturb them

nice one

tom

[mpir]

I've never kept C. ligniperda so I can't really say if they are sensitive or not. I don't think this can be generalized. Sometimes this varies from colonie to colonie. I do keep C. vagus and they don't mind the vibrations. A bit of fresh air (opening tube) makes them go crazy.
Fridge is a good idea. It is controled environment with a constant temperature. A lot of people that I know use it for hibernation. I use it too.

[Sced]

What do you mean when you say lack of moisture and drowning? Do I still need to moisten the nest? And do they forage in Hibernation, will they need food and a water supply? And how do they drown, how can I avoid that?

sorry for all the questions

[mpir]

Well, when I say lack of moisture I mean that if the tube goes dry in the middle of the winter your ants are in trouble. And yes... you do need to moisten the nest. And here is the second danger... ants are pretty much static so if you flood them they will most likely drown. There is another danger, in winter the water evaporation reduces, so you must change your "watering habits". So from here comes the danger of watering too much or too little.
Ants will not need food when in hibernation moisture on the other hand is important.