Eggs can disappear for one of several reason.LaniLyne0106 wrote: ↑Sat May 28, 2022 6:59 pmSaturday Queen update
The water reservoirs have declined a fair amount since the last check so i will be attaching them to portals so they can move into the new tubes at their own pace. Any ideas why the water runs out so quickly or is this the normal time when they run out? For clarity I would like to mention that they are not bone dry just a little bellow half when held horizontally The reason I consider them low is that they are only covering half the cotton in a test tube meaning it could be difficult for the queens to get their water.
Queen #2’s brood looks smaller then #3’s and #4’s and it looks like some eggs are missing :https://photos.app.goo.gl/PnLzKCHSkLqNf8GA6
Queen#3’s brood pile, has two larva already!! super hyped now :https://photos.app.goo.gl/WMYFX6uUpY3aX5Yy5
Queen #4’s brood pile is huge, has about 9 to 11 small eggs I counted, I tried my best the test tube is basically frosted :https://photos.app.goo.gl/ACFz32SPXXhyA7ca8
I only have two portals at the moment so i will be moving #2 and #3 in first and i put a small piece of mealworm in each cause why not . Ps photos of each queen listed after there sections.
1) Nuptial flight took too long
If an ant queen has an extensive nuptial flight, longer than a few days, she will start consuming wing muscle too early. Consequently, the queen eats some of her eggs, and then if she gets pupae, one or two of them. That’s why some people feed queens right after they catch them.
2)Infertility
Some queens, that mated, are just unable to raise brood. They end up eating and relaying eggs over, and over, again, until eventually they die. Sometimes, they have colonies but stop laying eggs, and the workers die off.(This is uncommon though for colonies)
3)Lack of mating
Some queens just don’t mate, which you know, which causes them to eat eggs due to their death…(Not caring or the eggs)
4)She was framed
Sometimes, larvae hatch and get to work eating. Their first target is the surrounding eggs, which they eat until they are full.
Or she could have eaten some eggs for no reason at all, or to feed the new larvae. This is very likely.