ANTSTORE World of Ants

[boogeyman26]

hey all i just ordert a little colony of Myrmica rubra as it is my first order from antstore i ordert a ANTSTORE Starter Set - glassfarm/arena - 30x20
and Myrmica rubra
Size:queen + 11-25 worker

my question is what to do if the colony is getting way too big for the starter set and what do i feet them with i have olso ordert some difrent food for them bot im not sure if it is the right food ?

[miszt]

search is your friend

[JimmyVe]

Hi boogeyman and welcome,

in deed miszt is wright, if you look around here a bit you find a lot of answers to your question (there is a search engine)

In short,

If he colony is to big you can move them to a new home, ore expend your old nest.

Myrmica rubra likes sweetness. Honey, sugar/water.... Also give them plenty of insects.

Look a bit around in the forum, if you still have questions feel free to ask them and we will try to answer them.

[boogeyman26]

hey agen i have spend some time now on the forum and found alot of nice info on the ants i have ordert but the only thing i ditend find is how fast the colony is growing and do there need to hybernate and how do i do thad
and thans for the fast replay

[JimmyVe]

Hi,

they grow fast (not as fast as Lasius sp., if the colony does well you should have about a 100 workers next year, maybe more.

Yes they need hibernation, they are from the center off Europe so they hibernate from October till March.
Drop temperature slowly, each day a few degrees ( °c ) until you are below 10 °c keep them for these moths between 0-10°c and they will have a perfect hibernation. To wake them up, put up the temperature with a few degrees each week (days)

[miszt]

A good place to hibernate ants is in a shed, put them in as Jimmy says, around October or even september, so the temp will drop natrually for them, you can also keep them outdoors if you dont have a shed, but make sure they are not in direct sunlight, and keep an eye on the weather, if theres any chance of a frost, you should wrap the farm in some bubble rap or somthing

[boogeyman26]

thans i will do thad thans for all your help in here it have been very helpfull

[boogeyman26]

got my colony today so i have set it up and now im hoping thad they will settel soon

[JimmyVe]

Good luck boogeyman26, keep us informed and place some pictures if possible.

[boogeyman26]

atlast somthing is happening the first workers have gone out of the test tube and the queen have made some eggs but sry for not taking any pic of them yet i will soon

[sithmaster676]

sounds like the colony is going to be fine and the first workers are obviously hungry
Sithmaster676

[JimmyVe]

Good job, and yes if you can, place some pictures.