The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

So I'm pretty new to ant keeping: I've caught one L.niger queen who now has brood, and I've purchased an L.niger colony online, which now has about 14ish workers. In about a week I'm going off to Australia for a fortnight and I was wondering if I would need to feed them over that time, either carbs/sugar or protein. Water shouldn't be an issue because they're still in a test tube set-up. I was also wondering if I should maybe put them in the fridge over this time, but I was hoping to move them into a formacarium before they have to hibernate for winter (I'm in the UK). Any help would be great ASAP, thanks.

PS: all my potential ant-sitting friends are away so that's a no-go.

YOU SHOULD HIBERNATE THE COLONY IN TEST TUBE SETUP THAT IS BEST FOR THEM. FEED THEM A LOT OF HONEY AND GIVE THEM SOME INSECT FOOD. THEY CAN STAY FOR TWO WEEKS WITHOUT FOOD.