Hibernating Camponotus Ants

[KSkuroooari]

So the weather here in PNW has started to really cool down, especially in the mornings, and made us start to wonder about the whole hibernation issue and what we should be doing to prepare for it. We watched Mikey's videos about hibernation but didn't really gain much insight about it except why ants hibernate.

1. Why can't we just leave them as is, in my son's room, in their test tube connected to their foraging area? Why is moving them to a cooler place, like in the refrigerator necessary? My son's room tends to be one of the colder rooms in the house, which is why, even now, I've currently been debating whether or not to move them to the master bedroom upstairs where it's warmer (and quieter).
2. In his video, Mikey had them all stored in a compartmentalized box in his basement. But he also only had queens being stored, rather than queens with colonies. Does that mean that that's not relevant to us anymore, now that our queens have a brood? And if it is still relevant to us, do we just disconnect the test tube from the outworld, close up the entrance with cotton and store them that way?
3. If we have to store them away, what should we do about our queen that has decided to nest under a piece of wood in her foraging area?

Thank you for any insight.

[AntViking]

[youtube][/youtube]Okay so

1. Moving your ants to a cooler place will help with their hybernation process. Negating this is extremely unhealthy for the queen and her brood/worker. It works as a sort of *** SPAM *** another year of egg laying.

2. No its still relevent. Most ants hybernate to survive the winter. They will try to force themselves to hybernate anyway (they run on a biological clock) but if they are in a warmer space it doesn't do as much for them and doesn't give the queen a proper break.

3. I would store the while setup in a unheated basment. If available. Id say It just has to be below 55 and above 40 (someone may correct me)

Well that's all I got. Ant on!

[KSkuroooari]

[youtube][/youtube]Okay so

1. Moving your ants to a cooler place will help with their hybernation process. Negating this is extremely unhealthy for the queen and her brood/worker. It works as a sort of *** SPAM *** another year of egg laying.

2. No its still relevent. Most ants hybernate to survive the winter. They will try to force themselves to hybernate anyway (they run on a biological clock) but if they are in a warmer space it doesn't do as much for them and doesn't give the queen a proper break.

3. I would store the while setup in a unheated basment. If available. Id say It just has to be below 55 and above 40 (someone may correct me)

Well that's all I got. Ant on!

Thank you, AntViking. Your explanation helped a lot. I'll have to see what temperature our garage stays at during the winter. It's insulated so it won't get as cold as the garden shed outside but won't be heated like inside the house. Or maybe the storage room. It doesn't get exposed to the heat like the rest of the house. Well, at least now I know what to be looking/preparing for. Thank you, again!

Oh. Before I forget, do we still feed them during hibernation? Or just not as often, like how you don't water indoor plants as much during the winter?

[AntViking]

[youtube][/youtube]Okay so

1. Moving your ants to a cooler place will help with their hybernation process. Negating this is extremely unhealthy for the queen and her brood/worker. It works as a sort of *** SPAM *** another year of egg laying.

2. No its still relevent. Most ants hybernate to survive the winter. They will try to force themselves to hybernate anyway (they run on a biological clock) but if they are in a warmer space it doesn't do as much for them and doesn't give the queen a proper break.

3. I would store the while setup in a unheated basment. If available. Id say It just has to be below 55 and above 40 (someone may correct me)

Well that's all I got. Ant on!

Thank you, AntViking. Your explanation helped a lot. I'll have to see what temperature our garage stays at during the winter. It's insulated so it won't get as cold as the garden shed outside but won't be heated like inside the house. Or maybe the storage room. It doesn't get exposed to the heat like the rest of the house. Well, at least now I know what to be looking/preparing for. Thank you, again!

Oh. Before I forget, do we still feed them during hibernation? Or just not as often, like how you don't water indoor plants as much during the winter?

Feeding them is unnecessary, they may except the ocassional drop of honey/sugar water once a week or so. They WILL however still require water. So just make sure they have that in there tube and you're good to go!

One last thing. A good sign your ants are ready for hybernation is that eggs will turn to larva but won't eclosed into workers. If you notice a lack of eggs and the queen isnt laying more. It may be about time (my preference time is mid to late october) you're ants don't need the full winter if you don't want. Just around 2-3 months

[Rhetorik]

Think of it like cryogenic sleep, lowering the temperature slows down their aging.

[Gavinthesheep1234567]

I live in Canada as well

[KSkuroooari]

I live in Canada as well

We live in Washington, along the Columbia Gorge.

[KSkuroooari]

One last thing. A good sign your ants are ready for hybernation is that eggs will turn to larva but won't eclosed into workers. If you notice a lack of eggs and the queen isnt laying more. It may be about time (my preference time is mid to late october) you're ants don't need the full winter if you don't want. Just around 2-3 months

Does this mean that they won't even pupate either, or they might but just not eclose until Spring? The larvae of one of our C. modoc has been in their first or second stage of molting for what seems forever (all exaggeration aside, the biggest one is still about 2mm and it's been about a month already). We can see their little tell-tale hook-shape but they're just not getting bigger or fatter. She's in the master bedroom which puts her in the warmest room in the house so I don't think she would've gone into hibernation already but now I'm wondering.

[AntViking]

Hmmm. It COULD be. What region are you from? Also keep in mind that camponotus species are probably one of the slowest growing ants due to there size.I panicked a little at first when It took mine a solid 2 1/2 ish months to fully grow from egg to adult worker. I was so used to keeping tetramorium species.

[KSkuroooari]

Hmmm. It COULD be. What region are you from? Also keep in mind that camponotus species are probably one of the slowest growing ants due to there size.I panicked a little at first when It took mine a solid 2 1/2 ish months to fully grow from egg to adult worker. I was so used to keeping tetramorium species.

We live in Washington, along the Columbia Gorge.

Thanks for reminding me. I've really been trying to keep that in mind. As well as trying to remind myself that even individual ants grow at different rates. But when the larvae of one Camponotus queen is going from larvae to pupae within a week, it's hard not to compare and think something is wrong.

Would you advise against giving her just a smidge of honey? I have never fed her this entire time we've had her.