Disaster

[Absorbentgene]

So I was my first queen camponatus pennsylvanicus has been doing excellent first nanetics and they have fed her and some of the brood but a huge disaster happened.

The enclosure I had them in partially flooded. Even the test tube they were in partially flooded. Of the 5 nanetics are think there are only 2 left. The pupea are all lost but some eggs and larvae remain. I've moved her test tube to a dry spot with what was left to a large glass jar and a second tube she could move to in an effort to salvage the colony. I have a little bit of protein in there and a little bit of honey to try to keep them going, it's also in a dark space and out of the way. Is there any other suggestions?

[AntsLuxembourg]

Hello there,

I assume that the eggs or brute were kind if washed away or smashed during their great flood. Sorry to read this. I imagine that you didn't use enough cotton so it was rather easy for the queen and workers to pull it out. What you could do is make sure that the cotton is a bit thicker so that even if they are pulling, they don't just flood the whole setup again. You could also place their testtube at a slight ankle with some piece of cloth or towel. This way it won't flood completely anymore.

I personally would have force moved the remaining colony to a new setup by dumping the queen into the new testtube and carefully moving the brute etc too. However I don't recommend doing this at all if you don't have soft or thin tweezers or a steady hand. It also puts some stress on the queen so it's best to do it quick but carefully.

It's good that you provide them with some protein and sugar. I would just wait for now to see how it is going. Best of luck that they recover.