The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

I'm shooting for carpenter ants, they can chew through a lot. Is a cotton ball really going to keep them in the test tube? Im trying to figure it all out now, if the weather warms and stays nice, they can start the nuptial flights as early as next month.

If you put a thick plug of cotton in the tube it should work fine.

I have my carpenter queen in a test tube with cotton and she has been in there a long time. I do suggest that you make sure the cottons thick because the queens are very strong and one escaped by pushing the cotton out of the tube.