ANTSTORE World of Ants

[KiamCameron]

You see when I put my Lasius niger in hibernation they ran out of water in hibernation so earlier I tried to move them to a new test tube I thought they were very inactive in hibernation so i tried placing them all in there but then they just exploded and came running out of test tube some of them and then I put them in new test tube but some and queen are still in the old test tube so I tried something else I celi taped the two testtubes together hoping they'll move they through hibernation and yes I understand the dangers of moving them to a new test tube.
But now I wonder if they will move through hibernation???

And could of this of damaged them and make them die later on or wil they sleep fine again?

[SteveUK28]

Hi Cameron and welcome to the fourm.
I had the same kind of problem with my Niger colony.. Water was running out.. basicaly i got another test tube with some water in the end.. cotton wool in there and i connected the 2 together with a bit of tubing... They seem to be fine.. Dont try n make them move.. as long as the water is there for them.. they will find it if they need it.
Goodluck

[KiamCameron]

btw there not in a basin because colony is not big enough to be opened I wait till I have lots of workers then I put them in a basin

And Im doing it in hibernation So I do not know if it might hurt them

Last thing im not new to this forum :p Kiam was my other name but I couldnt login :/

[tail__]

What do you mean: "not big enough to be opened"? You keep them in closed test tube without any foraging area?

[KiamCameron]

yep because they have not got enough workers to go out i usually open around 20 workers

[Purifier]

@tail: When you keep them in the fridge or somewhere else where the temperatures are good for the hibernation its not a problem to hold them in the test tube.

But after the hibernation you should give them a basin or nest.

[tail__]

That's strange, my Lasius niger niger started to go out when there were only 7. Maybe they wouldn't be so active if i've fed the queen before, but I didn't. Normally first workers start foraging almost immediately, and they need some open place outside nest. Of course, during hibernation it doesn't matter, they shouldn' be active at all.

[KiamCameron]

I only keep them in there for longer than normal people is because if i get them to move in right away and they have problems will be hard to move them but with a bigger colony they just be able to live better