Pleasant Surprise

[Cheesefish77]

I had been raising a P. occidentalis queen in a clear plastic tupperware container filled with soil, in hopes of raising a colony. For the first few weeks she was fairly active, travelling on the surface and gathering seeds I gave her. Then a couple months passed with no sign of activity, and I had just assumed this was going to be another failed colony and that I'd have to throw out the soil soon. Today I decided to check the sides and bottom of the container, and found at the bottom a small chamber, where she was resting. As soon as I lifted up the container to see, she ran from the now illuminated chamber, but it showed me that she was still doing well. I wasn't able to see any brood, as it was a very small window into which I could see. I'm hoping to see some workers emerge in the next couple months, assume she is fertile.

[harvesterant]

Personally, I'd recommend keeping queen ants in a test tube setup, until the first workers emerge, so that the queen can settle in better. Either way, that is a very pleasant surprise!
It is good that your queen is doing well.