Triple weird

[yrodro]

This one is tricky to me (noob) because I understand how to deal with each separate situation, but all three together... well...

I have a new queen, captured in July, probably formica. She got a few nanitics, and then stopped. I am expecting they went into hibernation, so left them in the garage, and have given drops of honey twice.

PROBLEM is, their tube cotton has some black mold, and it is drinking lots of their water, so my question is, (a) how do I move to a new tube (b) a hibernating colony (c) that consists of only a queen and four nanitics !?

Thanks!

[JoeHostile1]

I personally would never make a queen move during hibernation and I personally would never make a queen move with only 4 workers no matter how black the cotton was.

I actually have a queen with about 10 workers that I spent days trying to move out of a black test tube. I finally got them to move using extreme heat and as soon as I turned the heat source off and turned my back they all moved back into the dirty test tube. So just hibernated them like that. I’m sure they’ll be fine until spring.

What you could do is since they are in hibernation is just connect a new test tube to the old one and leave them be. If you’re hibernating them at the proper temperature they shouldn’t be able to move much, but if you’re a little warm and they can move around than they could decide to move to the fresh test tube. This also solves the problem of the old test tube drying up. Even if they don’t move, since the test tube is attached they will still get the humidity they need to survive.

[Hunter36o]

I only ask this question as it was a mistake I made early on.
Are you sure it is mold? I though one tube had a bad mold outbreak but the ants refused to move. This caused me to investigate further because surely they would move if it was hazardous to the brood. After closer inspection and a lot of research it turns out the front layer of cotton was just dirt from ant waste and what not.
If black mold is on the inside of the cotton (the water side not the ants side) it will also cause a slight yellowish tint in the water supply. Then you know for a fact it's mold.

The ants will refuse to stay if there is a direct danger and the possibility to move.