Need some help with a queen I found

[conniek]

I live in new york state,, catskill mountain area, My dog moved a piece of bark a few weeks ago,I found 3 different queens with a few nanites and some eggs. I got them home in a pill bottle and a tissue. I always carry a pill bottle with me just in case. When i got them home, I am assuming they are carpentor ants. 2 of the queens were dead. I had some giant ant farms from yrs ago put away. I got them out and put the live queen in one with her brood. The 2 dead queens I kept there nanites and eggs and put them in another ant farm.
It is too cold to just let them out now. I am just keeping them. Anyway the queen and her first brood went down to the bottom of the ant farm I had some wood shaving in there. No test tube, I did buy the kit from your site for later. I have been watching the queen and her brood. I saw a nanite eat a egg. I read your site. I read that when there are some nanites put some food source in. I put in some honey and some ant liquid I bought. "liquid ant nector." They do not seem to be eating the food I put in. The gaster look fat on the nanites. When I saw the one eat the egg. I saw it grow.
Is this normal? Are they going to eat all the eggs. Or will they stop and eat the foodI put in ?
The other ant farm those ants are running around, eating, moving there eggs to different places. I swear that group of eggs are getting bigger, but there is no queen that i can tell. they all look the same size. The other farm you know its a queen.
Anybody who can answer this. I will be grateful and thank full
I did save the queens to make sure they are not in hibernation. But I think there dead.

[SolenopsisKeeper]

I live in new york state,, catskill mountain area, My dog moved a piece of bark a few weeks ago,I found 3 different queens with a few nanites and some eggs. I got them home in a pill bottle and a tissue. I always carry a pill bottle with me just in case. When i got them home, I am assuming they are carpentor ants. 2 of the queens were dead. I had some giant ant farms from yrs ago put away. I got them out and put the live queen in one with her brood. The 2 dead queens I kept there nanites and eggs and put them in another ant farm.
It is too cold to just let them out now. I am just keeping them. Anyway the queen and her first brood went down to the bottom of the ant farm I had some wood shaving in there. No test tube, I did buy the kit from your site for later. I have been watching the queen and her brood. I saw a nanite eat a egg. I read your site. I read that when there are some nanites put some food source in. I put in some honey and some ant liquid I bought. "liquid ant nector." They do not seem to be eating the food I put in. The gaster look fat on the nanites. When I saw the one eat the egg. I saw it grow.
Is this normal? Are they going to eat all the eggs. Or will they stop and eat the foodI put in ?
The other ant farm those ants are running around, eating, moving there eggs to different places. I swear that group of eggs are getting bigger, but there is no queen that i can tell. they all look the same size. The other farm you know its a queen.
Anybody who can answer this. I will be grateful and thank full
I did save the queens to make sure they are not in hibernation. But I think there dead.

Ok… do they move AT ALL? I would assume hibernation… but did they have water? Also sometimes, wild caught colonies can’t adapt and die. Eggs are probably dead if they are preparing for hibernation. My Camponotus they go into diapause had eggs disappear right before(I think). Ant eggs don’t make it through hibernation(may be wrong).

Also, some species(Not Camponotus) have queens same sized as the workers. For example, one species, Odontomachus ruginodis has a few mm queen difference. Ants are good at hiding queens.

[AntsLuxembourg]

First you should start by getting them identified. Could you create a topic in the Ants Species ID Center section? Please include pictures.
About the queens and workers. Are they all curled up or are they just sitting still?
The fact that the egg pile seems to be increasing could either mean you got a colony of ants where the queen looks like a worker or where the workers started to lay many eggs to raise males and queens for breeding.
For the worker eating an egg, it could be that they are stressed and ate a few eggs or that the eggs are dead and are therefor consumed to not lose the protein, etc.

[conniek]

The 2 queens do not move at all. The 3rd queen is moving around and is being fed or feeding. I am 95% they are the Camponotus. I will try to get a photo. They were probably in hibernation until my dog ripped the bark off the tree that is when i saw all 3 in different spots but close by each other. I did not want to just leave them out in the open to die, I don't know if they had water, but they have it now. When I found them, they were curled, the queen had the eggs in the middle of the curl and they Nanites were all around the eggs and queen. Because it was so cold no body moved so I was able to get them. Like I said 3rd queen is moving around it's like they made a small chamber. I have water and honey in the farm, they can get to it if they want.
The others I put them in the other farm, and they are making them self's right to home it looks like. That is the farm that looks to be growing. They ARE eating and drinking. I am more worried about the queen She looks ok moving around and making this chamber of some kind, I am not sure I can get a photo. I do not want to bother them. I was wondering about the nanite eating the egg. I saw it pick it up and eat it. So, I was wondering if they will eat all the eggs. I hope not. Anyway, I will try to ID them I will take a picture of the queen in the tube, they are the same, to make sure of the kind. Thank you for getting back to me so quick. I will figure out how to post a photo and go from there.

[conniek]

I tried to add a photo I received this error message
Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.
Maybe I am doing something wrong.
The other queen in the test tube I took a photo of is not dead I saw her move to the water. The other one her middle is real skinny she looks way different than the other 2. I am sure she is dead. I will read up some more on adding a photo to get I'd. She is all black 1/2 inch in size. like I said I live in upstate NY 12783 zip. I will keep trying to figure this out thanks for the help

[SolenopsisKeeper]

I tried to add a photo I received this error message
Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.
Maybe I am doing something wrong.
The other queen in the test tube I took a photo of is not dead I saw her move to the water. The other one her middle is real skinny she looks way different than the other 2. I am sure she is dead. I will read up some more on adding a photo to get I'd. She is all black 1/2 inch in size. like I said I live in upstate NY 12783 zip. I will keep trying to figure this out thanks for the help

Mm measurements are better, but sounds like Camponotus

She may be dead