Is she dead? Why won’t she leave the tube?

[Evilqueen79]

New ant queen arrived. Our first formicarium, our first Lasius Flavus colony. Tiny tiny workers x 6 they muddle about but since arriving the queen hasn’t left the tube - is that normal?
Have put some honey on a cotton ball and ants to and fro, but she stays in her tube. Barely moves. Is this normal?
Help! Have I done something wrong?

[Vincex]

Queens don't normally leave don't worry just leave her be for a while ! Should be fine

[Hawkeye]

New ant queen arrived. Our first formicarium, our first Lasius Flavus colony. Tiny tiny workers x 6 they muddle about but since arriving the queen hasn’t left the tube - is that normal?
Have put some honey on a cotton ball and ants to and fro, but she stays in her tube. Barely moves. Is this normal?
Help! Have I done something wrong?

The only ones who will leave the nest are the workers. The queen stays safely in the nest. Not until your colony grows bigger and the workers convince the queen to move into the formicarium (20-30 workers) will she leave the tube normally.

[AntChuck]

Lol and when it comes time to transfer them from a tube to another tube or formicarium be prepared to be patient. I have a 3 queen, 30ish worker Lasius Flavus Colony (only a few eggs)... just did a transfer to a new tube set up that also has an AC portal attached at the very same time I was doing the same thing for my Tetramorium Immigrans colony thats has 1 queen, 100+ nanatics and hundreds of brood. Tried the natural way by placing the new tube in the dark with the old tube in the open... day 3 rolled around and I became impatient. Went and bought a regular lamp with adjustable head and an incandescent light bulb (Incandescent puts off heat where as LED give off little to no heat generally). Spent an entire day trying to coax each colony out into their new, clean and more efficient set ups. I had the time so I could watch and wait while the tubes slowly heated and as soon as the last worker left the tube I would remove it immediately... Like I said I had the time to observe the process otherwise doing it this way can be dangerous for your ants and even your set up as it could kill your colony or melt your tubes, tubing etc.