ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Kurgan]

Well my new L. niger colony seems in most ways to be thriving. I'm up to about 15-20 workers now and a decent amount of eggs and pupae. It's been about 6 weeks now though and they show no interest in moving into the farm, their tube is in the basement and besides one brief visit (that I've seen!) by a worker to the farm they have not left the basin. Today I noticed there is what looks like mold on the cotton wool in the tube (still nearly full of water). Most sources tell me the colony usually up sticks at around 20 workers but I'm concerned that the mold could risk damage to the pupae. Is there anything I can do (besides patience)?

[miszt]

dont worry, be happy always helps!

fraid its all about patience, Lasius niger are slow to move, even with 50-100 workers in a test tube, if the mold becomes dangerous, they will move, so dont worry

[ratgreen]

if your trying to get them to move, just make the test tube a little cooler and the farm a little warmer,and leave it so light can get to it(not direct sunlight) and cover up the sides of the farm. and if nothing works, just wait till the test tube runs out of water and make the farm moist,but of course give them some way of getting moisture like in a little dish.
apparently most mould is harmless, just give it time.

[Kurgan]

Good news I think. They are digging a chamber in the the nest, regular stream of workers heading down the tube now.

When they actually move the colony how long does it take? I'm curious as to how my rather fat queen will cope, does she move with a phalynx of guardian workers?

[miszt]

once the colony is ready to move and the chambers dug, they will move within about 10-20 minutes.

My mrymica colony moved in 5 minutes, with only 40 workers, 10 queens and a huge amount of brood, they are fast once they get going, they have to be, moving the nest is probly the single most dangerous thing they can do

[Kurgan]

They have moved!
Over the last week they shifted their brood to lie on the top of the farm and enlarged their chamber. This weekend they moved lock stock and barrel and the brood is now visible in a chamber below the surface. I have binned the nasty moldy test tube!

My problem is this: It is now impossible to open the lid of the farm in order to top up the humidity (via the straw i buried in the sand/loam). I had put a layer of vaseline around the top but their dug sand has gone all over the place. I tried to open it a few weeks ago before I realised they had started digging and I got several escapee ants within 2 seconds. Now the whole colony is there I will never be able to safely open the lid, but the colony will dry out.

[miszt]

ah yes this can be a problem, you must leave enough space to add escape prevention, heres a few ideas for you, will add them to the caresheet I think!

I would recomend that you find some plastic tubing, insert it thru one of the connectors on the edge of the farm, and into the straw (remeber to seal the connector hole up with something, cotton wool works well), then you can use a syringe to slowly top up the water in your farm

another option, tap *gently* a few times on the lid of the farm, this will send many of the ants running back into the nest, do that a minute before opening, then again just before you open it

last option, depending on the type of farm and how well its made, you could stand the farm in a bowl, then fill the bowl with water until it is just below the top of the clay balls layer in your farm

good luck