Ignored Queen isnt laying

[RedX72]

I have a Queen ant with 3 workers in a test tube set up, in a dark drawer and the workers don't tend to the queen anymore. They dont feed or clean her and now, she stopped laying. She is active and goes to the food sources herself and ive watched her eat well. I see her wandering around the tube by herself. The workers are also eating but they stick together and leave the queen on her own. I raise my own insects for their protein intake so there isnt any chance of toxic material in their diets to prevent her from laying. The room is around 60° F and i dont know if this behavior is because of the colder temperatures but is there anything i can do to fix this or is it a waiting game?

[bugging3out]

Did the queen raise her own workers? Because if those workers are not her daughters then they wont tend to her. Even tho you said that they once did take care of her, they still may not like her. If those workers are her daughters then you have it at the wrong temperature. Also the workers and the queen if they are family then try putting them in a smaller test tube. It makes the pheromones go faster through out the tube instead of some massive place where the pheromones are very low. Good luck. Keep me updated on the colony.
What species is she too?
Just curious.

[NKantsalberta]

I have a Queen ant with 3 workers in a test tube set up, in a dark drawer and the workers don't tend to the queen anymore. They dont feed or clean her and now, she stopped laying. She is active and goes to the food sources herself and ive watched her eat well. I see her wandering around the tube by herself. The workers are also eating but they stick together and leave the queen on her own. I raise my own insects for their protein intake so there isnt any chance of toxic material in their diets to prevent her from laying. The room is around 60° F and i dont know if this behavior is because of the colder temperatures but is there anything i can do to fix this or is it a waiting game?

I would assume they are in hibernation now, so you will notice a behavioral change, in both workers and the queen who will stop laying eggs even if she remains active. What species of ant and where are you located? To bugging3out's comment, if the workers are not her biological workers, and of a separate species, there is a chance they will ignore the queen.

[AM1C39]

Yes, when ants are in hibernation they will usually act odd. Because the queen is bigger than the workers their hibernation state is somewhat different, for example the workers may sleep but the queen may not or it could be the other way around.

[RedX72]

I have a Queen ant with 3 workers in a test tube set up, in a dark drawer and the workers don't tend to the queen anymore. They dont feed or clean her and now, she stopped laying. She is active and goes to the food sources herself and ive watched her eat well. I see her wandering around the tube by herself. The workers are also eating but they stick together and leave the queen on her own. I raise my own insects for their protein intake so there isnt any chance of toxic material in their diets to prevent her from laying. The room is around 60° F and i dont know if this behavior is because of the colder temperatures but is there anything i can do to fix this or is it a waiting game?

I would assume they are in hibernation now, so you will notice a behavioral change, in both workers and the queen who will stop laying eggs even if she remains active. What species of ant and where are you located? To bugging3out's comment, if the workers are not her biological workers, and of a separate species, there is a chance they will ignore the queen.

They just seemed to bunch back up this morning. I think youre right about the hibernation state because yes, they are her workers, they were the first shes laid. Im not 100 sure on the ant species but i think they're some form of carpenter ant from California in the US (found her outside where i live) and the average temperature is around 50°F during the day and below freezing at night, so hibernation is the current theory

[RedX72]

Did the queen raise her own workers? Because if those workers are not her daughters then they wont tend to her. Even tho you said that they once did take care of her, they still may not like her. If those workers are her daughters then you have it at the wrong temperature. Also the workers and the queen if they are family then try putting them in a smaller test tube. It makes the pheromones go faster through out the tube instead of some massive place where the pheromones are very low. Good luck. Keep me updated on the colony.
What species is she too?
Just curious.

Yes, she did raise the workers herself, they were the only ones to her brood before she stopped laying. Im trying to keep the temperature close to what they would experience naturally so i think they're just going into a hibernation state. They ate a lot and when i checked up on them today, they had all cuddled up together and stopped eating the honey and protein ive provided. And thankfully, knock on wood, there haven't been any deaths so they are taking care of themselves but they are sluggish from the cold. I think they've got it all figured out and i was probably just worrying about nothing
Oh and this is only my 3rd colony so im not 100% sure on the species but i believe they are some kind of carpenter ants. They seem to be on the larger side and they dont seem to sting, just bite. The queen is very large and she looks like a carpenter ant while the workers are much much smaller but they are her first workers so i know thats normal for them to be on the smaller side.
Thank you so much for replying to my post

[NKantsalberta]

Good to hear! It sounds to me like you do have Carpenter ants, and they sound like they are doing fine Good luck on your colony!

[RedX72]

Did the queen raise her own workers? Because if those workers are not her daughters then they wont tend to her. Even tho you said that they once did take care of her, they still may not like her. If those workers are her daughters then you have it at the wrong temperature. Also the workers and the queen if they are family then try putting them in a smaller test tube. It makes the pheromones go faster through out the tube instead of some massive place where the pheromones are very low. Good luck. Keep me updated on the colony.
What species is she too?
Just curious.

Update on that colony, the workers turned right around and started to care for the queen and yesterday was the day she started to lay eggs. I was worried she would eat them but this morning, the brood has grown significantly. And the workers have been bringing her what i put in the test tube