von Kossae » 25. Nov 2009 17:23
@Ant Head
You do not eliminate the mold risk by using cotton wool, I've had tons of mold in my cotton wool. It did not seem toxic tho, as my queen (I've let her move into a new one anyway) lived fine with it. I was very afraid of mold earlier, and moved other queens immediately upon noticing the slightest sign of mold. It does not seem to be necessary to do anything about it at all, and I only moved my current queen (by connecting test tubes and let her transfer herself) because the mold was extreme, and she needed water.
She even laid more eggs after a slight hibernation period of a month's time.
She will eventually, and almost for sure if you use cotton wool with Formica, pluck bits off to cover pupae so they can spin cocoons or just for who knows why throw it all over, so be sure to use non-bleached wool..