ANTSTORE World of Ants

[mason1503]

hi'yall

i got a Lasius flavus queen off the moors near my house in july 2007, so i've had her for about a year and a half, im keeping the colony in a custom made antfarm the measurements are
35 x 40 x 20, the colony has around 400 - 600 workers now and they are getting a little packed inside the farm, i would like to build another larger enclosure for them so they dont seam to be as packed[unless they aren't actually short for space] i read that Lasius flavus colonies average at 7,500 workers and this is mainly why i think a new enclosure (antfarm) is needed. there is maybe another 150 eggs and larvae added together so the population is growing pretty rapidly i think, any advice please give

thanks

- mark

[tail__]

What are the nest's size? I understand 35*49*29 are arena size. My Lasius niger colony of the same age, now also with ca. 500 workers, lives in the cork nest 25*25*1 cm, and they still have a lot of space. They begin making new corridors and I'm sure there is enough space for a few thousands. Remember that ants LIKE to be packed. It's best if they can enlarge their nest if they need, so cork or sand nests are preferred (although some ants can even dig in y-tong or plaster).

[mason1503]

they live in a soil nest, basically just soil taken from the garden that was disolved in water filtered so that all bits of debree were removed, the nest size is about

18 x 11 x 20

nest mainly is just dug straight down to bottom of the tank, but spreads a bit however this is in the back right of the tank, i was considering in starting a new colony in the summer when the Lasius niger colonies have there nuptial flights i wish to catch a queen, so since you have a collony as you stated already maybe you could suggest a good size for a plaster nest for this species if i want a colony of near 10,000 ants,

p.s the Lasius flavus colony does have enough space to expand, more than enough space i was just woried as the queen is laying lots of eggs almost everyday and i thort that the space could be filled quickly with the amount of workers that there will be before too long