Page 1 of 1

Hibernation temperature question

Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 3:21 pm
by LazarusAC
I can't seem to find a location within my house where I can get within the required temperature range say at least 10 deg. celsius or lower. What happens if I keep them at around 15 degrees? Will that mean they actually don't go into hibernation mode and just remain cold? Is that better or worse than not hibernating them at all?

I do have a garage but it is unheated and was already as cold as 4 degrees a few days ago (near the outside temp) and it will get way too cold during the winter, below freezing. In trying to isolate rooms by blocking heating vents, returns and even blocking of the door gaps, but so far have only managed to have those rooms a degree or two colder, so nowhere near hibernation temperatures.

Has anyone tried a cooler where the just place frozen ice packs and replace them every day?

Re: Hibernation temperature question

Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 6:04 pm
by idahoantgirl
Think about it: local wild ants deal with the same temperatures in your garage, and survive. They should be fine in your garage. I put my colonies in an unheated garage. Temperatures get below freezing and they are fine. They create a natural antifreeze in their body to survive these temperatures.

Re: Hibernation temperature question

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 8:20 am
by LazarusAC
Here up North (I'm in Ottawa, Canada) ants dig deep underground (~4 feet) so that when the freezing temperatures comes around they are isolated from the cold. They can sustain temperates that are cold (~10 deg. C) but certainly not freezing. My garage is unheated so It's perhaps a degree or two warmer than outside. They would not survive.

I have heard heard of some people that have dug out pits in their backyard and buried their ants over the winter, but I don't want to do that.

Re: Hibernation temperature question

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 8:11 pm
by LazarusAC
Well it seems that nobody has tried going the route of a cooler and Ice Packs but I'm gonna try so wish me luck.

I have a thermometer in the cooler and started with smaller ice packs for now which is already near -10 deg. C. I'll be putting a larger pack starting tomorrow. From testing I've done for the last 4 days it looks like the larger pack should be fine for 12 hours so I will basically have to replace them each morning and then again in the evening. When the real cold sets in over the winter I'm still hoping to find a cold spot somewhere in the house. But if not its going to be a long winter with a lot of Ice Pack swapping for me.

Have 3 Camponutus in there now and will be adding another Camponotus and one Lasius in the next few days.

Re: Hibernation temperature question

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:52 pm
by Idahoantguy
idahoantgirl wrote:
Sat Nov 25, 2017 6:04 pm
Think about it: local wild ants deal with the same temperatures in your garage, and survive. They should be fine in your garage. I put my colonies in an unheated garage. Temperatures get below freezing and they are fine. They create a natural antifreeze in their body to survive these temperatures.
This is actually really helpful for me :lol: I put my ants in a cooler in my garage so that if it got below freezing then the ants would be fine, but if it froze we would have bigger problems like frozen pipes :lol: The cooler still smells like bacon...

Re: Hibernation temperature question

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:57 pm
by idahoantgirl
Glad to help 😊