Queen rescued from potted plant

[melinatharp13]

I was replanting some of my flowers when I found a worker ant, thought nothing of it and continued replanting until I saw a very large ant in the roots of the plant. To my suprise, it was a queen. It was a bit of a hassle to get her into a test tube and keep my cat from inhaling her but I now have her and a few workers safely placed in a dark drawer while I figure out what to do with them.

She seemed to only have a few workers and I got as many as I could before they ran into the cracks of the deck.
Question is, what do I do now? I know the steps for a new queen without eggs but what about a queen who has workers? Also, I'm literally a day from going on vacation for a week.

How can I ensure she and her small colony survive?

[AntsDakota]

I was replanting some of my flowers when I found a worker ant, thought nothing of it and continued replanting until I saw a very large ant in the roots of the plant. To my suprise, it was a queen. It was a bit of a hassle to get her into a test tube and keep my cat from inhaling her but I now have her and a few workers safely placed in a dark drawer while I figure out what to do with them.

She seemed to only have a few workers and I got as many as I could before they ran into the cracks of the deck.
Question is, what do I do now? I know the steps for a new queen without eggs but what about a queen who has workers? Also, I'm literally a day from going on vacation for a week.

How can I ensure she and her small colony survive?

Provide an outworld for the colony to forage in. Feed the colony some carbohydrates (honey, sugar water, humming bird nectar, etc.) and protein (freshly killed insects, protein shake, etc.). Both are necessary for the colony's development.