May have killed all my Queens?

[notmyidea]

I hibernated my ants by putting them in a toolbox out on my patio (I live in a condo and don't have a garage!). It is getting down to about 8-10C at night and 16-18C during the day. My patio is south facing and I didn't think but it got really hot in the toolbox. It looks like the glass even expanded in some of the test tubes causing water to leak out. Anyways, all my queens look dead, is it possible I cooked them? Or has it been cold enough at night that they are just hibernating?

[bluefrogwithredhands]

I'm not experienced in hibernating ants, but I know that you should keep them where the temperature doesn't fluctuate. Keeping them somewhere where the temperature is steady is ideal. I'd imagine that a toolbox in the sun will absorb heat and warm the contents.

[larynx]

i would think that a 20 deg temp change back and forth would be pretty stressful to new queens. try keeping them some where with steady temps.

[Gregory2455]

Never put your ants outside under any circumstance. I suggest if they were to make it to have a small refrigerator at about 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit to keep them in for the winter. It is a constant temperature so it is not dangerous for them, and not freezing, so the water in the test tube should not expand, yet also cold enough for them to go into diapause. You do, however, want to keep an eye on the test tubes when you take them out because sometimes as the water heats up it will leak out from the cotton and flood the test tube. This is what I did last year for the few colonies of mine that needed hibernation.

[notmyidea]

Thanks for the tips/advice.

Lesson learned!!

I had a total of 10 Queens, 2 Formica sp. and 8 Lasius sp. Luckily, 1 Formica and 2 Lasius survived. Interestingly, only 2 of my Lasius queens had eggs/larvae/pupae and lo and behold, those are the two that survived. Coincidence?

Bought a bar fridge to solve this issue. Will set it at 40-45F. Thanks!
Jason

[jonathan21700]

I hibernate my ants outside in ice cream boxes and it's been working alright for now. Just be sure to keep them in the shade and watch out for temperatures below freezing.

[notmyidea]

I hibernate my ants outside in ice cream boxes and it's been working alright for now. Just be sure to keep them in the shade and watch out for temperatures below freezing.

The problem is my patio is south facing and when it's sunny all day....
The bar fridge is working perfectly. Keeping them at a constant 7C.