The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

When I finished hunting queens I had 7
fast forward to now, one was unfertalized, and two were more than likely underfed (one died but I'm trying to save the other, she has one worker left)

the other four are doing well, with two camponatus queens in tubes connected to portals and two... other ones. Haven't identified them yet but they're very tiny (workers about only a few milimeters)

Since the first workers aarrived, I've been feeding them a few drops of honey weekly, and eventually cricket legs. The smaller ones are fine, but my camponatus workers I found would constantly roam and try to dig through cotton. The two queens I mentioned earlier that were under fed had workers wedged between the cotton and tube, crushed, presumably to get more food.

I noticed the camponatus workers would go through drops of honey quite quickly, but I didn't want to continuously check on them so early, and decided to hook up a sugar water test tube with cotton to their test tube portals.
Since then, the workers have stopped roaming wildl, staying by the queen with only one usually wandering around the portal, so I assume it worked. However I've been looking around and seeing that sugar water test tubes might not be the best idea for them. Is what I have fine right now or should I be doing something else to satisfy their needs for sugar?

Slice A Fruit, Just A Tiny Slice & Put In In The Out-World.
Most Camponotus I Had Liked Apples, Watermelons, Papayas & Bananas.

Camponotus? Ah, both equally picky but hungry. Well they are literally called 'sugar ants.' So give them lots of sugary substances. I've found mine LOVE just a basic sugar water mix. They actually prefer that to honey. So make sure they have lots of any sugary substance (and yes fruit is also really good, but you shouldn't rely on it). Also mine have a sugar water test tube and they love it, so it's up to you. They also really need protein, sugar ants are usually big ants, so is their larvae, which are carnivorous. That means they need a good amount of protein. I feed mine segments of mealworm, and whatever other insects I can get my hands on. Hope that helps and good luck raising them

Once they have workers, a colony should not be confined to a test tube. They need foraging areas where they can search for food as the need arises.

Sugar water tubes are only practical for very large colonies. Water gives sugar the capacity to spoil. They should be fed drops of sugary liquid which are replaced whenever they are consumed or dry out. My Camponotus pennsylvanicus are fed every couple of days, and their growing colony is thriving -- they had 23 workers in their first summer and their first major in the following year.

Temperate Camponotus should also be in hibernation right now.