Baltimore maryland resident looking to start a common and colony looking for help
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Baltimore maryland resident looking to start a common and colony looking for help
I live in Baltimore and have haf issues capturing a fertile queen I think. Caught a few and put them in A rudementary container but had no luck. Anyone have tips or if there is a local guide I would be interested because ants are awesome, thank you.
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Glowbug1236
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2019 7:08 am
Re: Baltimore maryland resident looking to start a common and colony looking for help
Hello,
Down here in South Carolina, the ants are everywhere, and so admittedly it is i think much easier to find young colonies.
Many people prefer to find young queens just at or after they have had the nuptial flights and are finding a place to set up a colony.
I have done this but in my trial and error phase, those colonies did not survive, unfortunately.
The colonies that survived were already young, established colonies, and i have not tried the former since.
* If you find a larger park, with enough trees, and can find a small colony in a small tree branch on the ground, i think you will succeed much easier.
- Look for a stick, somewhat rotten, on the leaves below the tree about an inch to 3" in diameter. Usually half submerged in leaves.
- or a rock or brick. Though the rock or brick is a bit harder to ensure that a queen is inside. And it's harder to ensure that more of the ants survive.
- Many of the ants will rally around the queens quarters.. they will gather just outside (and inside) where she is located, and will stay close to her. Scooping up the stragglers will be a challenge. Finding a small, young colony is easier.
- Go at a time when they are less active. So locate the colony, and go back a few times to determine this.
- Have two enclosures ready. One that will be their home. And one that they will be captured in.
- The capture enclosure is probably best a 5gal. bucket from hardware store, with a rim with a thickened oil, or vaseline, painted about two inches wide on inside of bucket rim, so as to keep from escaping.
- make sure to have your main ant habitat ready and "stabilized" before moving the ants into it. This means that you should construct it to the best standards, and keep it empty of ants for at least a week or two, so that initial molds grow and are dealt with, and you are confident that it will be a healthy environment.
I deal with the molds with proper lighting and airflow. Airflow is important to mitigate mold issues! Also i buy a biological product from grow stores. (Hydroponic garden stores).
This is a product that has beneficial bacteria, enzymes, and other micro-organisms, that destroy the mold.
And sprintails. The little, bouncy bugs that are common in soil naturally. Most likely already in dirt or other stuff you put in there.
And pillbugs (small ones). And small centipedes. They all help keep it clean.
- After the environment is stable, it's time to transfer.
- Fishtank air tube. I connect both sides, and use vaseline to keep them from crawling on the outside of the tube. It can be a challenge to do this right. Also, some ants are not great climbers, so i pushed a thin, somewhat rigid string, through the tube to help.
Also, some ants (small pheidole for example) can climb over vaseline, so alcohol mixed with baby powder, and applied as a barrier may work better.
- Allow them to transfer over by keeping the new enclosure a healthy space (with some food too), and the transfer bucket "less hospitable".
If they continue to resist transfer, then letting the transfer bucket dry out completely should work.. just make sure that an obstruction is not the reason for their lack of movement!
Anyway, i hope this helps.
It has worked for me. As long as finding the ants is not the main problem, which i definitely spent less time explaining.
If that's the problem, let me know, maybe we can figure that out.
Good luck!
Down here in South Carolina, the ants are everywhere, and so admittedly it is i think much easier to find young colonies.
Many people prefer to find young queens just at or after they have had the nuptial flights and are finding a place to set up a colony.
I have done this but in my trial and error phase, those colonies did not survive, unfortunately.
The colonies that survived were already young, established colonies, and i have not tried the former since.
* If you find a larger park, with enough trees, and can find a small colony in a small tree branch on the ground, i think you will succeed much easier.
- Look for a stick, somewhat rotten, on the leaves below the tree about an inch to 3" in diameter. Usually half submerged in leaves.
- or a rock or brick. Though the rock or brick is a bit harder to ensure that a queen is inside. And it's harder to ensure that more of the ants survive.
- Many of the ants will rally around the queens quarters.. they will gather just outside (and inside) where she is located, and will stay close to her. Scooping up the stragglers will be a challenge. Finding a small, young colony is easier.
- Go at a time when they are less active. So locate the colony, and go back a few times to determine this.
- Have two enclosures ready. One that will be their home. And one that they will be captured in.
- The capture enclosure is probably best a 5gal. bucket from hardware store, with a rim with a thickened oil, or vaseline, painted about two inches wide on inside of bucket rim, so as to keep from escaping.
- make sure to have your main ant habitat ready and "stabilized" before moving the ants into it. This means that you should construct it to the best standards, and keep it empty of ants for at least a week or two, so that initial molds grow and are dealt with, and you are confident that it will be a healthy environment.
I deal with the molds with proper lighting and airflow. Airflow is important to mitigate mold issues! Also i buy a biological product from grow stores. (Hydroponic garden stores).
This is a product that has beneficial bacteria, enzymes, and other micro-organisms, that destroy the mold.
And sprintails. The little, bouncy bugs that are common in soil naturally. Most likely already in dirt or other stuff you put in there.
And pillbugs (small ones). And small centipedes. They all help keep it clean.
- After the environment is stable, it's time to transfer.
- Fishtank air tube. I connect both sides, and use vaseline to keep them from crawling on the outside of the tube. It can be a challenge to do this right. Also, some ants are not great climbers, so i pushed a thin, somewhat rigid string, through the tube to help.
Also, some ants (small pheidole for example) can climb over vaseline, so alcohol mixed with baby powder, and applied as a barrier may work better.
- Allow them to transfer over by keeping the new enclosure a healthy space (with some food too), and the transfer bucket "less hospitable".
If they continue to resist transfer, then letting the transfer bucket dry out completely should work.. just make sure that an obstruction is not the reason for their lack of movement!
Anyway, i hope this helps.
It has worked for me. As long as finding the ants is not the main problem, which i definitely spent less time explaining.
If that's the problem, let me know, maybe we can figure that out.
Good luck!
Re: Baltimore maryland resident looking to start a common and colony looking for help
Hello. Have you heard of the GAN (Global Ant Nursery) through AntsCanada? If you go to AntsCanada and look under queen ants for sale they have different ant sellers listed. I'm one of them for the DC Baltimore area but unfortunately have a very small selection of species this year. However, there are lots of options on the website so definitely take a look. I have queens for sale at about $25 and up depending on the species but they won't be for sale until after they've produced workers.
To check the GAN farmers (queen ant sellers) for you state, go to the AntsCanada.com website, click on queen ants for sale and then select your country and state. As of this moment, there are no ants available for Maryland on the website and you are not allowed to buy from other states due to US invasive species laws. However, if you would like, I can let you know when my species come up for sale if nobody has posted a species by then. I do additionally sell 3D printed starter nests for about $15.
Link: https://www.AntsCanada.com/queen-ants-for-sale/
Charlottesville, VA GAN Farmer
Seller of 3D Printed Nests
Owns:
Camponotus nearcticus
Camponotus castaneous
Camponotus pennsylvanicus
Phiedole bicarinata
Tetramorium immigrans
Forelius pruinosis
Seller of 3D Printed Nests
Owns:
Camponotus nearcticus
Camponotus castaneous
Camponotus pennsylvanicus
Phiedole bicarinata
Tetramorium immigrans
Forelius pruinosis
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