The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

Hi, today i notice that i have my first worker i mean nanitic from a queen and i dont know what to do about the food. Should i wait for all pupae to hatch? or should i give them food even if the queen have only 1 nanitic?

Do you know the species? If you know that, you can look up specific care options.

wedge a one inch section of drinking straw in between the exit cotton and the side of the tube. This acts like a tunnel for them. Set the tube in the outworld, and supply food in the outworld. They may not be interested right away, but colonies should be introduced to an outworld at the first worker.

Outworlds aren't too necessary but they can help. I generally introduce an outworld when feeding a colony in a test tube becomes impossible. I would wait a day or two then place some sugar water or honey just at the entrance of the test tube, and once the worker(s) start foraging, introduce a protien source. They won't always take the food as being a small colony they don't have a big demand for nutrition. (But this can vary on what species).

They are lasius niger spp. and i will try to feed them in the test tube for now.

Feeding in the test tube is not recomended for several reasons
1 It's too stressful for your colony to have their "roof " ripped off, and a giant toothpick covered in a gooey mess inserted, and then later, cleaned.
2 feeding in the tube encourages mold
3 Ants do not like to nest where they eat
4 In nature they have to forage to eat. They are used to it, and it is what they are programmed to do.
5 If they are housed in the setup I reccomened, they can pick the amounts and what kind of food they need, without drowning in globs of honey or maneuvering around giant cricket legs in their home.

Why I like to feed in test tubes. (This can vary on what species you keep and I highly recommend Idahoantgirl's method. Also I would never try this with Camponotus sp.)

1) I use very large test tubes as most of my queens (as being from the UK) are small. The test tubes have a living space on average of 10cm as rest of tube is used for water storage. I cover up half the test tube making a designated "nest" area. This helps to reduce stress.
2) I place all food on foil allowing it to be easily cleaned up by just removing the foil (which has the leftover food/ mold if food was left too long).
3) The big test tube along with the light divide helps to tell the ants that the light area is where they can forage (food is at very end of test tube.) (Also some ants do like to eat in their nest with most species carrying in food if they believe the food is open to be taken by other animals. Or like Lasius Flavus which predominantly farm underground Aphids within their nests)
4) Again with the Large Test Tube and the light arrangement the ants can forage. (You can even place some sand/small stones at entrance to mimic the outside)
5) With the food being atleast 8cm away from the "ant nest" the food is not in anyway hindering their movement in their home.
6) Ants are smart. Most of my ants quickly learnt to deposit their rubbish on the foil as it seems to vanish. This makes it so easy to clean the tube. (This isn't a given as it depends on your ants)

Once the test tube is too small or the ants nolonger seem happy in their founding home or the test tube becomes too moldy: You can then move your ants into a proper set-up. Feeding your ants in a test tube allows you to have the time to fully prepare a new home for them whilst also saving a bit of space.