Captured queen who had a colony. How do I take care of her?
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Captured queen who had a colony. How do I take care of her?
Hi there everyone. I recently was in my yard and accidentally dug up an ant nest. The queen came out and I managed to capture her with my test tube. I am wondering what I should do in terms of feeding and care because she lost her workers. Thanks!
- Ltislander
- Posts: 221
- Joined: Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:25 pm
- Location: Massachusetts
Re: Captured queen who had a colony. How do I take care of her?
Well if you can you should collect the workers because she will die withought them. She grew dependent on them.
- idahoantgirl
- Posts: 1521
- Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:52 am
- Location: Idaho, USA
Re: Captured queen who had a colony. How do I take care of her?
Not necessarily. It is possible for her to "start over" however she will need food.
Proverbs 6:6-8
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile
Re: Captured queen who had a colony. How do I take care of her?
I gathered a few of her workers and put them in a temporary mason jar with dirt. I then put the queen in and the workers began to dig tunnels for her. So I think all is well. What should I feed the small colony?
- idahoantgirl
- Posts: 1521
- Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:52 am
- Location: Idaho, USA
Re: Captured queen who had a colony. How do I take care of her?
A test tube setup would be preferable. For food they need sugary substances (Sugar water, honey, jam) and protein, preferably insects bought from a petstore (crickets, mealworms, fruitflies) (make sure you kill them before feeding them to your colony. Make sure you don't feed them in the tube, but rather in an outworld.
Proverbs 6:6-8
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile
Re: Captured queen who had a colony. How do I take care of her?
She seems settled into the mason jar. I put some honey in the jar for them to drink. Hopefully it all goes well.
- idahoantgirl
- Posts: 1521
- Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:52 am
- Location: Idaho, USA
Re: Captured queen who had a colony. How do I take care of her?
The main issues with mason jars are
1 you can't move your colony into a nest easily later
2 humidity is difficult to control
3 you disturb them every time you need to feed them
4 you cannot monitor your colonies progress or potential issues that will arise.
1 you can't move your colony into a nest easily later
2 humidity is difficult to control
3 you disturb them every time you need to feed them
4 you cannot monitor your colonies progress or potential issues that will arise.
Proverbs 6:6-8
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile
Re: Captured queen who had a colony. How do I take care of her?
How would you recommend I move them into a test tube setup?
- idahoantgirl
- Posts: 1521
- Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:52 am
- Location: Idaho, USA
Re: Captured queen who had a colony. How do I take care of her?
That depends. Can you give us a picture of the mason jar setup? You may have to dump the mason jar and then gather the workers and queens. I know that sounds damaging, but you will have to do it at some point and it is best to do so before she lays eggs.
Proverbs 6:6-8
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile
Re: Captured queen who had a colony. How do I take care of her?
There are about 10-15 workers with her in the jar. Catching all of them would be very difficult. And the only thing I worry about is her stress level. She has gone from colony to tube then to jar.
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