ANTSTORE World of Ants

[deadmeat30]

hey all, my order came! but one thing, i changed the colour of my sand/loam mix and forgot to check the niger lasuis, so i have no queen . does anyone have a spare queen and workers? i would like to get some from the antstore, but it says postage is £10, is this right? ive emailed them to ask.

anyway heres a little picture of my set up, its only the starter kit!

any advice would be great!

[JimmyVe]

Looks good.

About the queen (and workers) i can't help you with it, maybe after the swarm time (this summer) maybe you can catch one yourself. if you can wait so long.
In deed the shipping cost are very high.

[Sced]

You could always try a UK store for ants, the deilivery will be cheaper.

[deadmeat30]

hey thanks for the replies, ive sorted out the ant situation, and there on there way . once this colony get up and running and have a good summer of growing ill look at setting up another colony.

thanks all, Alan

[JimmyVe]

Good luck with the ant keeping deadmeat30.
Keep us informed.

[deadmeat30]

receaved my ants this morning, and places the test tube in, and within minutes the lil workers were out the tube. took a pic too.

[JimmyVe]

Looks very nice Deadmeat30. Keep up the good work.

[deadmeat30]

is it right if the ants leave the test tube right away? my queen is out already and on her way to the 'farm' part. from what ive read on alot of people, is that they stay in the tube for weeks! Is this a good sign?

Alan

[Sced]

Its a very good sign, it means that the nest you have offered them is very good. Well done.

[deadmeat30]

i thnk the have started to dig down, ill take a picture in a minute

Alan

[deadmeat30]

heres a picture, it looks like there digging.

[R3dFox]

im jealous now lol.

Deadmeat, if you dont mind, would you explain to me how you did your water thing to keep the nest damp. Because when i tried the whole thing just flooded

[JimmyVe]

Looks like they are digging indeed.

@ R3dFox: yes maybe he can explain it better than me.

[deadmeat30]

ok, firstly i put the seramis granulat at the bottom. bout an inch worth. then i used a cheap biro and removed the ink and ball point. then placed the bottom ontop of the seramis. then i started layering up the sand/loam mixture into the colours. leaving about 1 inch of the pen showing at the top. then you just use the pipet to fill the seramis with water, you can see it filling up. everso easy. my sand and loam changed to 'darker' colour in no time. its as easy as that! oh and dont forget to put the cotten wool in the end! ants cant swim

ive attached a few pictures

all the best with it, Alan

[R3dFox]

i did all that the first time. But i couldnt tell when to show adding water. So mine ended up completly soaking.

So how did you know when you put enough water in? what should i look for o how much pippett fills?

Oh. and one more thing, lol, ive already emptied and re-filled my farm, so think i will be able to force/dig the pen in easily? =S

@ jimmyVe, yea lol you guys were cool n helped, but deadmeat could proberly explain it a tad better