ANTSTORE World of Ants

[m0onKniGht]

Hello everyone, im new to this forum altho ive been reading quite a bit of it, its been very helpful, what ive gathered so far is that Lasius niger seem to be the best begginers choice but i am worried since were now in september that i wouldnt have much time with my new collony before hibernation...i still havent built my ant farm but that would be a matter of days at most, i just dont know if its worth getting the ants now or just read up and wait for march

any help will be very appreciated

[JimmyVe]

Hi mOonKniGht and welcome,

That is true, it is almost time for hibernation, you can buy a colony now but from October they are not very active any more, they just sit there during hibernation. If you would like to have active ants from the start it better to wait until march.

[Pugberto]

I'm planning not to hibernate mine this year seeing I just bought them but will come next year. They are Mycrica rubra.

[JimmyVe]

Why would you keep them out of hibernation ? You know it is bad for them ? The queen needs this period to rest. If the ants keep a hibernation in the wild it is best you do it to. If you do not the queen will probably die sooner.

You could shorter the hibernation put like i sad, try to do like they would live in the wild.

[Pugberto]

I'll do it at the start of November till February. Is that the best way to do it?

[JimmyVe]

Looks good, about 4-6 months. To start hibernation lower the temperature a few °c each day, not to much in one time. To end make it warmer each day a bit.

[Pugberto]

Would the best place be the shed? Seeing I have a large farm

[mpir]

@moonknight

My advice is: wait till spring. Of course you can buy ants now and observe them. But chances are that they will not survive the hibernation and it might put you off ant-keeping.
Wait until mid March and then order and you'll get a "happy" small colony that will forage around and dig tunnels. If you order now they will be "boring" and just sit there and do nothing.

It is up to you.

[Pugberto]

@moonknight

My advice is: wait till spring. Of course you can buy ants now and observe them. But chances are that they will not survive the hibernation and it might put you off ant-keeping.
Wait until mid March and then order and you'll get a "happy" small colony that will forage around and dig tunnels. If you order now they will be "boring" and just sit there and do nothing.

It is up to you.

Just to say. It'll be easier to use the quote system then use the @ system seeing thats what quotes are there for.

[JimmyVe]

@ Pugberto: Mpir answered the question it was not really a quote. Quote are easy but not if they are used to much, it would be very difficult to read if everybody always used quotes.
Yes a shed will do. Keep them between 5-10°c during hibernation.