ANTSTORE World of Ants

[barnettgs]

I have put up my antbox in cold attic in early November and I have checked them once every 2-4 weeks to see if they are ok. They were all in testtube, sitting closely side by side and does not move - apart from their antennae!

Anyway, it has been 4 months and I checked them today - they seemed to be bit active and a couple of workers wandering around the antbox - out of test tube.

Think it's time to take them down to warmer room?

Cheers

[barnettgs]

Thanks...for proteins, is it ok to use ham? There are no flies yet at the moment.

[barnettgs]

Thanks for useful info, will try fishing shop out. I know that ham may have salt hence why I was asking.

Cheers

[LeonofLondon]

I got my Lasius niger and Formica fusca out of the loft the other week I bought some small crickets from a reptile shop today because there´s a lack of flys and insect life still they jump around abit so its probably best to kill em first.

[adam james]

Hi my Lasius niger colonys have been out of hibernation for about six weeks now. The queens have started laying and iv got new workers hatching. Ive found that they like those really little flys my workers love them they pick them up and carry them back to the nest then they put the larva on em

[LeonofLondon]

My L niger suprised me they took down a live large cricket within reather quickly and now there swarming over it ive never seen them behave quite like that there acting like P diversus it must be becuase they have had so little insect food I gave them a small silver fish that I found while helping a freind decorate and that was a week ago and theres alot of larvai so I guese they just hungry.

[adam james]

Hi mine did that this morning i put a blue bottle fly out my tub in my fridge and put it in it started to warm up and move when one of the workers found it the worker then rushed back to the nest then loads of workers came out and they started holding it down and swarming over it now thers an empty body left

ps. hi mike

[LeonofLondon]

sorry about that my spelling yeah normally I do kill more difficult food items such as meal worms even though I always feel guilty after, but ive never gave them crickets before so I thought I would see how they would tackle it live in the past they have killed some weaker insects such as silver fish with a quick bite to the head.

[charles17]

is hibernation absolutely necessary for the ants? wcan i just keep em in a neutral environment all year?

[charles17]

well i already have an ant species. the camponotus herculeanus one. its probably already too late to do a hibernation... but i guess i can do it for em next year.

but when is usual hibernation time?

and what do i do? just put em in a cool area?

[charles17]

but its april... lol... and 6 months? they need to sleep for that long?? will they live if u just keep the environment neutral all year?

[charles17]

hmm ok... but where does one keep ants for hibernation? i dont think there are any areas around here that is anywhere near 40 degrees fahrenheit. and do they need food and water during this time?

[LeonofLondon]

Hibernation is only necessary for ants that live in a climate where you have a winter if you live in a tropical climate and your ants are native to that area its not required to season to hibernate them. I put my ants in the attic for the winter at about November when the other ants living wild in London are no longer present above ground but we did have kind of a long summer. The main reason for hibernation other than to survive the cold is so that your queen can reset her hormonal clock, which is basically what regulates her egg production. In most ant sp from a moderate climate egg production slows down at the end of the summer to practically 0 and during hibernation it is reset to start up again in the spring often the time of year when nuptials are born (virgin queens).
Unhibernated ants tend to be very lethargic and less healthy.

[charles17]

it is already spring and approaching summer, so would it be alright if i put em in hibernation for about a month? thats better than nothing right?

[charles17]

o haha... ok... but is it absolutely neccessary to keep em in hibernation really long? can i just keep em in hibernation for like a month or so?