The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

Hi I have had a lasius niger for about a month now and noticed she had a small pile of brood, but when I looked a few days ago I didn't see them but she had put cotton everywhere. Could she have put cotton over the eggs?

Also wanted to ask about hibernation, I won't have anywhere in the 5-10 degree range for another month or so and when I looked around I found you are supposed to start hibernation in October, adding onto that, how long of a hibernation is required? To my understanding hibernation is to give the queen a bit of a break from her duties(correct me if I am wrong. New to ants) with a new queen is a shorter period of hibernation, ie. 2 months acceptable or would the recommended period of october to march be the only way to go?

From Late October To Mid March

From when the ants disappear from outdoors to the point they return again is always a good general rule. Don't get impatient like a lot of hobbyists will be -- our colonies really seem to do better when they are treated as closely to their natural conditions as possible.

Hi guys. I have a question regarding the same topic. Started keeping ants this summer and I've caught a couple of Lasius queens. I understand that ants are going into hibernation now. Should I hibernate my queens now, even though there are no worker ants present?

Yes.Especially L.Neoniger