ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Shulgoth]

Hi, I'm new to the Forum and I wanted to start an ant colony. I figured I would start off with a Lasius Niger since that's what everyone is recommending for beginners. I have watched several videos on Youtube about what I should do and how, but i still have a few questions.

If I decide to just buy a Nest with a foraging area connected with a tube what should i buy?
Would this be ok?
http://antstore.net/shop/product_info.p ... 8238dc2e2b

I cant order a Queen of AntStore because I live in the US. So when I go out and ninja my Queen from a live colony should keep her in a micro-climate or just put her in the sandwich nest filled with dirt I might build? And if I do build one what type of dirt should I buy?

Once I get the Queen inside the micro climate / nest do I need to do anything for her, or can I just leave her to lay her eggs for the next 2 months?

If I need to give the queen workers from the colony I get her from, once they are in my nest how do I give them water? (extremely shallow water dish, or cotton balls soaked in sugar water?)

Thanks in advance,
Someone interested in Ants

[atx]

Hi Shulgoth,

i'm not sure if i understand all you said, but i'll try to give you some answers :

First of all - a start with Lasius niger is a good idea.
The starter-set would be fine for them, but it seems thats missing a glide material for 'outbreaking protection' like fluid PTFE or parrafin oil or something.Important thing.Once you have a lot of workers they all will come out if you put the top cover away, to feed them or so , so you must have a protection against this.

To ninja a queen of an outliving ant colony should be .... hm neraly impossible.
Is it a big colony the queen will be some feet under and escape if you start to dig after her.
If its a small colony you could be lucky , but then - take all of them.
A queen that has started a colony will not life a long time without it.

The best would be to caught a single queen from a nuptial-flight.A queen thats ready to start a colony has no wings anymore then.
Just put her into a test-tube with an watertank ( seperated by cotton ) , put it in the dark and wait.She will not need a thing for some weeks - till the first workers come up.

Its up to you how you start.
I would prefer the second way, but i don't know when the flights are in the usa.But i would guess its similar to us.

Sooooo - the nest - easy -
fill the sand/loam mixture in the farm.
You should find loam in a building center ( hardware-store?), and sand....well - all around you?^^
Maybe you find a shop thats sell a mixture allready.
If not - a good mixture to dig is 3:1 sand:loam.

Water - DO THIS FIRST OFF ALL , if you use a sand/loam nestfarm.

Take a straw or two,close it with cotton ( on the top and on the bottom ) and put it in the farm.
At the bottom of the farm should be clay pellets or something to save some water.
[here will come a link with an picture to explain what i mean]
Not the best but it should make you understand

Now you can fill in the sand/loam.

So you can humidification ( humid?) the nest,NOT irrigate ^^ . Just a little bit of water from time to time.
A good way to give them water to drink, is a small test tube closed with cotton and water in it.

The feeding

As i said you don't need to feed a fresh caught queen from a nupital flight , till the first workers come up.
A small colony need some small insects,water/honeywater/sugarwater, or sugar.

From the insects they will get the protein for the larva and from the sugar they get carbohydrate for the adults one ( easy said ).

Soooo that was how a start will work i guess.
I hope you can understand what i say,because my english isn't that good ^^' .

good luck and if you have some questions or open issues - keep asking .


i write more than i ever would read....

[Shulgoth]

Thanks for the answers, they help a lot. But I have a few more questions.

How does this ant water feeding thing work? and where could i buy one? and would it be more efficient that the straw with cotton balls idea that you gave?

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And for a foraging area as small as the one I linked above, would i need one or three bottles of PFTE?
http://antstore.net/shop/product_info.p ... 3a906a883f
http://antstore.net/shop/product_info.p ... 3a906a883f

And finally, what would this collectively cost? I'm trying to find out what the EU to US currency exchange is, but everyone has a different number....
So what would the nest, PFTE, and shipping of both cost?

[atx]

Firs of all welcome to your problem number one -

Antstore does not deliver to the usa


I don't think there is something effecienter than one or two straws ^^ - its so simple to make , costs perhaps 2 or 3 cents and can be well done.
I don't know whats an "ant water feeding" ?

For an outworld of this size you'll nedd only a few ml* , so one bottle will be enough for a hole while (years), BUT - you'll keep Lasius niger so,i would use the parafin-oil.
It's cheap and very easy to use.
Ptfe is kind of hard to get it clear and fine.

* PTFE can be mixed with water - so you get a hole glass out of one little bottle.

I don't know whats the price for glas is in the usa,but all of this should may cost a total of 30 to 60 $ .

The ants - selfcaught ~ Zero ~ to buy ~ 2 perhapf 7 bugs.
The nest and the basin ~ i dont know - perhaps 20 -40 $ at your glaser or aqua-store.
Parafin-oil - at the apothecary maybe a dollar
One or Two straws xD 2 penny?! ^^
Aaah i don't know the prices from your stores over there , but if you pay more than 60 $ - they will kidding you