Wow Ant Mad thats a pretty long time, shame to lose a colony after 8 years though.
My first real (including a queen) and oldest colony is my Camponotus ligniperda which I have had for about 14 months. Started with 7 workers and now 70+. Since then I have been I little over ambitious with my ants and have already gone as far as having a nice sized Acro colony

. I hope I'm not overdoing it

.