7 Queens caught after nuptial flights...

[Jimmydave937911]

Hi all,

Quick question but quite important. After doing some landscaping in the garden over the last few weeks, I have caught 7 queens quite shallow in the ground just under the grass.
Now I believe these are probably queens from last year that are just in their intial burial chamber.
Now here’s my problem, I’m guessing at the time when I dug the queens up there could have been eggs or even a few workers around them but all I did was transfer the queens to test tubes. So even though Lasius Niger queens are fully claustral, am I right in saying they will have now used up their muscle reserves and will have to be fed?
As a precaution I’ve already fed them all sugar water and about a week later some chicken. But wanted to know if this is necessary or just a bonus?

Thanks guys...

[NKantsalberta]

Hi all,

Quick question but quite important. After doing some landscaping in the garden over the last few weeks, I have caught 7 queens quite shallow in the ground just under the grass.
Now I believe these are probably queens from last year that are just in their intial burial chamber.
Now here’s my problem, I’m guessing at the time when I dug the queens up there could have been eggs or even a few workers around them but all I did was transfer the queens to test tubes. So even though Lasius Niger queens are fully claustral, am I right in saying they will have now used up their muscle reserves and will have to be fed?
As a precaution I’ve already fed them all sugar water and about a week later some chicken. But wanted to know if this is necessary or just a bonus?

Thanks guys...

If they readily accepted the food, there is nothing to worry about, just keep an eye on the condition of the tubes. More food = more waste