My Crematogaster Queen (Part 2)

[seadawg84]

So, my Crematogaster queen, as I've mentioned before, has a bunch of brood, but no workers yet. The pupae are taking a really long time to eclose. Despite this, the queen is taking food in the form of small drops of honey or homemade jelly. Should I keep feeding her even though she doesn't have any workers yet? Below is a picture of the state of the colony thus far.

https://imgur.com/lXadtIs
https://imgur.com/wvM8hVu

[Antloverhuman]

I would recommend feeding her once every two week and check once a week. I think the temperature might be too cold and the brood is taking longer to develop

[seadawg84]

Thanks for the advice, Antloverhuman! She is doing wonderfully and has several workers, and new brood. I had had a backup queen, but I didn't feed her often enough and she ended up dying. Her pupae have eclosed and now they are a colony without a queen.

Here are the pics of the thriving colony:
https://imgur.com/6R7b3ms
https://imgur.com/6idQ5sx
https://imgur.com/3kBde4I
https://imgur.com/s1hZOgY

[antperson24]

Very nice!

[seadawg84]

Is there anything I can do for the colony whose queen died? Would they fight each other if I tried introducing them to the colony that has a queen? Should I just dump them outside and let other critters finish them off?

[antperson24]

Is there anything I can do for the colony whose queen died? Would they fight each other if I tried introducing them to the colony that has a queen? Should I just dump them outside and let other critters finish them off?

I would say the latter.