ANTSTORE World of Ants

[JimmyVe]

Hello Darradar, i've noticed that you are still alive. Nice to see you back in action on the forum.

I think they will do just fine this year in the setup you have now (nest area) If everything works out well they may fill up the nest area at the end of this summer and you can move them to a bigger one next year after hibernation.

Nice to see you and your ants are still doing great.

[UneXisted]

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My colony of Camponotus cruentatus.

[darradar]

Hello guys,

here are a few vids of my ants, they have been out of hibernation for a while now, and as you can see are becoming much more active, im adjusting the temperatures slowely in that they are positioned on my dining room tablw with no heat as yet, they seem happier to feel the natural rising of the temps, i will add the heat pad in a few more weeks when i think they are ready for it, they have taken lots of suger/honey/cranberry jam/rasberry jam that i made up and seem to be loving it, offerd a moth but they not to interseted in that for now.

Hope to see the queen, lol tho with so many it will be lucky indeed if i do.....will post more vids soon i just noticed my camera battery has run out

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[JimmyVe]

They grow into a nice colony already. Seems like they survived hibernation without any problems.

[darradar]

Here are some more vids and i found the queen.....also there is a nice stack of eggs already she certainly hasnt waisted any time......they only been awake for a week....

colony
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queen
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queen
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youl notice some of the majors are massive too

[UneXisted]

How big do you think the majors are in mm?

My colony is doing very well too. I hope it will grow as healthy as yours!

[darradar]

glad to hear that....how many do you have in the colony...

id say some of my majors not all but for sure a fair few are a 1cm+ in size, sometimes i think im seeing the queen n its a mojor

[UneXisted]

At the moment i have 10 workers, 15 cocoons, around 1 larvae and 30+ eggs. They are thriving in their test tube.

[darradar]

here are my guys tuckin into some suger/honey and rasberry jam mixture....they love it...

[JimmyVe]

Very nice Darran.

[darradar]

hello guys.....

just a lil advise needed please....i have a fascinating development with my colony...

i noticed the other day that my colony hada rather large cocoon....i thought blimey whats this.. forgot all bout it for a few days ive just this minute checked and saw what i think is another emerged new queen....being rather verociously attacked in the foroging area....was just about to grab her, when she ran down the nest hole....all i could do was sit and watch them all attack her....i pleaded for her to come back out, which she eventually did, so ive now got her seporated......but now i dont know what to do with her....and i have a few questions....
why produce another queen, only to attack it...? a new queen' is this good news or bad news.? do males follow queens? am i now gonna get more queens and males..? and finally what should i do with the rogue queen, she hasnt been mated, tho she seems to have gotten through the attack ok....? should i....blimey seems so evil saying the words, but should i kill her?

you can see she pretty fresh out in her colouring, and the wings they have bitten off....



a mojor arrives..


major takes up position ready to attack..


opens jaws attack new queen..


queen breaks free and makes her get away..


only to be overcome again...


shes dragged up to the entrance...


where i finallt get her out...


she looks a bit bedraggled, but seems ok....




offered suger water wich she is lapping up.....





please help......and remember all you new keepers......even after all these years us experienced keepers ocasionally need help to....


p.s my original queen is ok and looks very healthy....

[Messorus]

Hello
It´s possibly ,,mikrogyne" - a type of smaller alate
But this is strange, I haven´t seen all photos before this last posts, but colonies which have age for being adult, usually produce males first, in one season, and than males with some queens.. Next seasons the number of produced alates queens just grow...

[JimmyVe]

If the colony is big enough they will produce a next generation of queens and males. When the time is right they should fly out (like they do in nature) so the workers "attack" them so they will go and fly out. In captivity the queens and males stay in the colony and after flight time the workers see them as intruders. So they will kill them. Sometimes the queens stay in the nest and help the workers. (in rare cases)

[darradar]

ok Jimmy, thank you very much, the rogue queen is still alive, do you beleive i should destroy her....

[Gortello]

you can put her back in the nest than you can see a fight and they have some food to and you can film it I think i should do that if she isn't prenegant