Moving a Stubborn Queen and Her Eggs into a New Test Tube

[rrlohmeyer]

I have a queen (pretty sure a lasius species) and a few eggs of hers that need to go into a fresh new test tube. Her current one is very low on water. I'm trying the trick with attaching the fresh test tube to the old, covering it and then putting a light close to the old tube to get her to pack up the eggs and move to the new tube. Trouble is she is being stubborn and not wanting to go anywhere. I've tried a couple times, but I'm afraid if I leave the light there too long it may get too hot and hurt her eggs.

Are there any alternative methods for doing this manually for her that wont hurt her or her eggs?
Thanks!

[antnest8]

if the queen stays you can do little about it but i would just keep the new tube attached by tape (and poke tiny holes in the tape for air). the humidity from the other tube should waft over the the old one so the brood can survive

[lunarcoexist]

Have you had any success getting her to move yet?

This procedure is probably not recommended and is definitely risky, but I've had success with it in dire situations:

Dip a q-tip in clean purified water and fling the excess water off. Do not press or wring it out. Gently press the q-tip againts the test tube glass next to the eggs and rotate the q-tip so that the side facing the eggs is moving up, away from the glass. Then, move the q-tip toward the eggs and with luck, the eggs will be lifted up onto the q-tip. Careful, they can fall off easily. To place the eggs onto the new test tube, place the part of the q-tip that doesn't have eggs on it onto the glass, drag the q-tip slowly along the glass, and simultaneously rotate the q-tip such that the eggs approach the glass where the glass is moving away from the q-tip. The glass drags the eggs off of the q-tip. The direction here is critical, so that the eggs get dragged away from the q-tip and not under it. The eggs should never be between the q-tip and the glass! They are very fragile.

HTH and good luck!

[rrlohmeyer]

She is still being stubborn Her cotton ball is still rather moist still. I have a couple of old style AC tube connectors with a short piece of tubing with some pinholes in it connecting her to the new tube now, so she is welcome to move whenever she gets the gumption. I don't trust my clumsy hands to try moving the eggs and risk ruining all her hard work.

[antnest8]

i would not move her with your own hands you can hurt her, her eggs and even if you do it correctly she would most likely eat them later