ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Indica]

I got some questions about hibernation. I dont know how could I do that.. Every place that I could place them is either too warm or too cold. But I don't know what is too cold..

In the living rooms I cant lower temperature that much, outside it gets sometimes as cold as -25 to even -30 (although past few years have been much warmer)..
But Lasius Niger lives at estonia too, right? I mean in the wild, so how do they survive these temperature then?

If they could survive in colder temperatures it would be much easier. We got this room, connected with house but we don't heat it too often.


How do you guys do this hibernation thing?

[ashhad1]

Well if my ants are in a test tube or a ytong i place them in the fridge as its the optimal temp 5C-10C.
wow-25 to -30!!! Id be amazed how the ants there live on to see spring, I know id probably die...

[Indica]

Well if my ants are in a test tube or a ytong i place them in the fridge as its the optimal temp 5C-10C.
wow-25 to -30!!! Id be amazed how the ants there live on to see spring, I know id probably die...

well, yeah.. these are rough winters. This time it didn't go under -15 I think, but you never know what the next winter will bring.
Record in estonia is –43,5 °C, which luckily was back in 1940.

[SteveUK28]

Well the ants will be pretty darn deep down in the ground where its much warmer.. an prob never goes below freezing.. also they will close a whole bunch of chambers so nothing from the outside can get in.
This unheated room.. as long as it does not drop below say 2C then u should be ok..

[mzfckr]

Well if my ants are in a test tube or a ytong i place them in the fridge as its the optimal temp 5C-10C.
wow-25 to -30!!! Id be amazed how the ants there live on to see spring, I know id probably die...

the last winter in latvia(neighbour of estonia) when temp was -27 or something.all colonies i live near survived. because underground is warmer(that what i think).

[JimmyVe]

In deed, underground it is much warmer, that is how the ants survive these cold temperatures.

Damn and i think that it is cold if it gets -10°c here.

[ashhad1]

Ya i know its lot warmer in the ground but still like jimmyve thinks -10C will punch me but stuff like -40C is icy hell. Still it just amazes me how these insects survive, kinda like us in the ice age...

[SteveUK28]

it dont matter how cold it is at ground level its always gonna be above freezing where the ants are nesting..

[Indica]

I guess I just need to measure temp in that room next winter, I got no idea how cold it gets there and figure it out when time gets there.


About temp. -10 can be worse than -25 in some cases. It all depends on how humid air is and if there is wind etc. -30 can be really nice winter weather sometimes where -10 is hell with fast wind and high air humidity etc, so it's not that bad.
I think lowest temp I've experienced is about -32 or so, it was nice because there is no school if temp is under -28 or .. -22 I think, depending on grade. And it wasn't THAT bad to be outside then

[Kale^^]

Heh, in Finland we usually get -40 degrees celsius atleas for few days of the year, mostly it is around 15-30 celsius. Damn, that is cold(40). But Indica is right, it really depends how fast is the wind; wind blows away the warm air "cell" that is surrounding you and that makes it cold.

[JimmyVe]

That is true Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar you can calculate how cold it feels when there is wind. (it is in dutch but i think you can check it out )

But back on topic now.

[ducatiman]

its called evapourative cooling,wave your finger in the air in front of you and feel the temperature,now lick your finger and wave it in front of you and you will feel it is much colder,this is because the moisture on your finger is evapourating and while doing this it is absorbing the heat from your body making you colder