Hello,
I've previously raised this species from a purchased queen/small colony but it has been a while and I've never done it from scratch! I've currently got 4 queens in separate test tubes with moist cotton wall for water/humidity.
I figure these tubes (actually they are urine sample bottles with screw on caps) will be plenty big enough to house a colony until next year.
-Do the queens need protein or will a little sugar be all that is needed until first brood hatch?
-Do I need to put air holes or will occasionally opening to change water be ok? Tube is not going to be completely air tight anyway and even a tiny hole would probably let a first gen worker escape.
Apologies for stupid questions!
Thanks,
Ed