ANTSTORE World of Ants

[stankenhar]

I have a Lasius niger Queen, in a test tube with solution behind cotton wool, She has been there for a couple of months and some eggs have hatched, firstly small ants and then larger ones, and there are quite a few unhatched eggs, she is in a dark cool place but the larger ants seem to be wandering around so I have dropped fruit flies in which are immediatly taken into the test tube, then the husks of the flies are used to block the test tube up for a couple of days.
Should I put them in an even cooler place, like my cellar, or has maybe the mild winter so far not been cold enough.
Stankenhar.

[gabranth]

she needs to my around 5oC if she's above 10oC she won't hibernate

[stankenhar]

Hello Gabranth, thank you for the response, the temperature is around 15oc, if I put her and the others into a colder environment will the workers etc die or will they also hibernate, or would it now be best to leave them to carry on as there seem to be quite a few eggs, they are connected to a farm via a tube but as yet haven't ventured far out of the test tube.
Stankenhar

[gabranth]

the workers will survive but you might have a few deaths from old age its best to put her into hibernation and the eggs will be replaced once she comes out of hibernation

[stankenhar]

I've just checked the cellar temperature and it is 15oC, that leaves me with the shed outside which gets very cold. If I put them out there with a cover over them to protect from frost, will the Queen hibernate more or less straight away as I don't want to keep disturbing her by uncovering but also don't want her to starve.

[gabranth]

they can be kept in the shed if it doesn't go below 0oC

[JimmyVe]

Hello Stankenhar and welcome.

Yes the temperature is to high, she will not hibernate at 15°c. Like gabranth said, put her in the shed, but make sure the temperature don't get below 0°c.

[stankenhar]

Thank you all for helpful replies. I will put her in the shed, covered in cloth to keep the frost out. Should I put any food like dead fruit flies or honey mixture to keep them going until they hibernate, or will that just keep them active for longer, or maybe go mouldy, Once I've put her "away" I don't want to keep disturbing her until about March.

[stankenhar]

Done. I've put the test tube with the lasius Niger Queen and workers etc into a box with a fine gauze on top, I've prepared two test tubes, one with water, and one with honey solution, capped with cotton wool, placed into the box in case either they get hungry, or come out of hibernation before I notice. I put the box into another box lined with newspaper, covered it with more newspaper, and put it in the shed, where at the moment the temperature is about 8 oC. Now I will leave well alone until about March, or when I see ants appearing in my garden.
Thank you all for good advice.

[gabranth]

if there mall and can fit into a testtube you could put them in the fridge

[stankenhar]

Gabranth!!!! my wife objects to me keeping them in the dining room, I somehow think the fridge might just be the last straw. For the last couple of years I've just collected ants from the local graveyard to put in my farm, she was quite happy with these as they started to work making tunnels etc straight away. My nest was made by a double glazing friend about 2 feet wide and 10 inches high, and about 1 inch between glass, this year I connected it to the box my Queen was in and I think my wife expected her to move straight in and start producing and working, a bit like plant an acorn today and get an oak tree tomorow

[stankenhar]

Temperature last night was -4oC, checked temperature in shed and it was between 3 and 4oC. I've now put some flightless fruit flies in the shed in the hope that they will also hibernate, or at least their eggs will.

[gabranth]

they will probably die

[stankenhar]

Hi gabranth, the flies will possibly die yes, just experimenting really, I've kept some in the warmth which I'll make a fresh mixture every three weeks so should have some left for when Queen hibernation is over