First two queens, dead after 15 weeks.
Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 1:12 am
Well it looks like that's all she wrote. I found both Ashley and Brittany dead today. Their water is almost all gone, so I wonder if I should have checked on it sooner. I was about to move them.
Also I'm an idiot. I've been looking at them under a red light only, so I didn't notice that what looked like brood (and I had every reason to believe it was; same size, shape, color, etc) was actually mold. Ashley is covered in mold now, and Brittany had squeezed herself almost all the way out of the tube past the cotton, I think she was starved or dehydrated. I wish I had moved them last week, but sadly my first colony is dead before it got off the ground. RIP, Ashley and Brittany. You were fun to care for.
A sad ending to what had been an exciting first chapter in my antkeeping journey. I'll just have to keep my eyes open for more queens. It's about to be the rainy season, so hopefully there will be more flights soon.
Also I'm an idiot. I've been looking at them under a red light only, so I didn't notice that what looked like brood (and I had every reason to believe it was; same size, shape, color, etc) was actually mold. Ashley is covered in mold now, and Brittany had squeezed herself almost all the way out of the tube past the cotton, I think she was starved or dehydrated. I wish I had moved them last week, but sadly my first colony is dead before it got off the ground. RIP, Ashley and Brittany. You were fun to care for.
A sad ending to what had been an exciting first chapter in my antkeeping journey. I'll just have to keep my eyes open for more queens. It's about to be the rainy season, so hopefully there will be more flights soon.