ANTSTORE World of Ants

[odesssus]

iv'e just got some componotus herculeanus they are not doing much. first i tiped all of them out in to the forigin box and in around 5 minuets they all whent in to the tube that leads to the nest box and just sat in there. after a bit of reading i found out that they like rotton wood so i got a bit and cut it down dug out a hollow/cave and drilled a hole to the cave and again tiped them all in to the forigin box where i put the wood and in no time every one moved in to the wood. apart from 1 or 2 workers who go out to get food by the looks of it all the others have not come out at all.i now know that i should not have tiped them out . any way my question is this will they move from the wood the to the nest box?. and what do i do about hibernation ?. im new to all this. thanks

[matt-man123]

I have not had this species but i can offfer my advice.

You most definatly should not have tipped then out because you may have harmed the queen. but as you said you knew that.

when you first get you ants they will be a small colony and will not feel safe in the new 'territory' so not to risk it they will send one or two workers instead of the whole colony. If you colony is small 5-35 workers then you will get few workers outside the nest but when you get the bigger number the more they will come out.

Dont worry about hibernation because you have missed it and worry about that later in the year.

Hope that helps

,matt

[phessellund]

I would say that your chances of success are not very high. You should have learned more about keeping ants before you bought your colony. Tipping the ants out moving them arround and shaking them stresses them seriously. When tipping them out you might have lost all the brood because the brood might stick to the surface in the original nest. Always let ants move to a new nest by themselves. There are many more things you need to learn about, how to keep the nest moist, feeding them, temperatures and so on. If I were you I would get bussy reading the antstore forum. Spend 10 or 15 hours at the least on reading about ants in general and your species in particular, then maybee you have a chance of keeping your colony alive. That is if you have not allready done too much damage to them.

[matt-man123]

phessellund- Dont be so blunt, he most probably got over excited once he got his colony and wanted to make sure they were where he wanted them instead of having then in a test tube, all im saying is give him a break.


ALthough is back you on the fact that more research is needed.

odesssus- spend an hour or two today and tommorow especially looking at your species and finding their requirments, needs, do's and dont's. *you will find all of this on this forum and google your species too*

matt

[odesssus]

thanks every one for your help.i have just looked at them and 2 workers are out and looking for ? i don't know what but they are going around the box looking at every thing.what about food ? iv'e given them sugar water and water by it's self what about a littel bit of dog food?. what insects can i catch from the garden for them?. i know that the queen dose not like light what about red light can ants see it ?. also can any one recomend a good book on them?.once more thanks you all .

[phessellund]

Ants can not see red light, you should cover the nest with red foil, if the ants are in a testtube or box you should cover that too otherwise the queen might get so stressed that she dies. Insects are easy to find. I just open a windod and lots of spiders can be found in the frame. Basements and attics are good places too. Always use ecological honey for your ants, honey contains important nutrients that sugarwater doesent have. The nest must be moist but not wet. Again spend some time searching this forum.

[odesssus]

thanks phessellund.i was watching the ants last night and saw 2 workers takeing sand/ small stones in to the nest.and im geting some red film from ebay in the next few days and the honey.