Need some advice please

Questions from those who are just starting or considering getting into the ant keeping hobby. If you’re intimidated or confused by the in-depth posts of the other sections of this forum, feel free to post here, and we'll start from square one!

Moderator: ooper01

Post Reply
ClashOwenBash
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Jul 15, 2018 1:58 am
Location: Oxfordshire, England

Re: Need some advice please

Post: # 52822Post ClashOwenBash
Tue Oct 23, 2018 2:13 am

As ants are entering hibernation soon queens stop laying and all egg/lavea stop growing which might be the cause of your problems. Make sure your feeding them a sugar source and a protien source along with access to water 24/7. During hibernation try to keep your ants at a temperature around 8°C (your sunroom might be too hot). They only need water during this time. When hibernation is over your colonies will hopefully have a growth spurt as queens normally lay a load of eggs after hibernation along with the colony accepting more food.
Hope this helps.
Ant-keeper going into his 4th year of loving ants!

AntsDakota
Posts: 1283
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:22 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Need some advice please

Post: # 52878Post AntsDakota
Wed Oct 24, 2018 4:03 pm

BandINorth wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 8:57 am
Thank you for the advice. I still dont understand why throughout the summer they havnt gotten more than 6 workers. I wish i could put them in something bigger. Gonna have a hard time finding a place around 8 degrees Celsius to put them. Ill do my best.

It really depends on species. Some species (such as those from the genus Camponotus) are very slow growing at the beginning. Their growth spurt happens later. The less common species tend to not grow very big, and are slow growing all their life. So if you could tell us the species, and if you don't know post pics, that would help a lot.
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25

Formicabuilder
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2019 6:45 am
Location: Frankfort Kentucky

Re: Need some advice please

Post: # 56213Post Formicabuilder
Sat Mar 02, 2019 6:48 am

Hey Brand North,

Just curious about the status of your colonies as we're coming in to spring since your post regarding your queens and workers. I'm starting my first colony with a formica queen and five workers that are starting to come out of hibernation. Are they up and laying eggs yet?

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests