When will she lay eggs.

[Rgarcia]

Captured a queen in Norwalk ct back on September 8th. she had her wings when i found her, now she doesn't. She is in a test tube setup in a draw. When i feed her i keep the lights off. I give her honey and 100% pure maple syrup. She stays at room temperature about 68°f -72°f still have no eggs. Am i going to be waiting till spring time?

[TEXASantlover]

In Texas I have found that many ants get lethargic and won’t lay eggs when its too cold. I personally don’t have much experience with ants yet and have not successfully founder a colony but I do have three species of ants and I keep them all on a heating pad. At the moment they are just on a heating pad that’s designed for back pain/muscles, because I haven’t been able to find a decent affordable heating cord or heating pad for that use. Other people recommended heating cords like the ones used for reptile enclosures but I found that they were too long or too expensive.

[Rgarcia]

Ive been thinking of integrating my test tube with my fish tank. The temp stays in 80° range. Would obviously have to take major precautions to insure that the tube stays above water. But would have to figure out the light issue.

[Hawkeye]

Ive been thinking of integrating my test tube with my fish tank. The temp stays in 80° range. Would obviously have to take major precautions to insure that the tube stays above water. But would have to figure out the light issue.

Paint the test tube or glue some red film around it. A cork should prevent water from coming in. Not entirely sure if there would be enough air in the tube for buoyancy, but glueing some foam to the side that contains the water should help.

[Antmanboy]

I am in Texas and my queen has not laid eggs yet it is quite cold so I think that could be the problem. Stress is another possibility.