Coffee Grounds as a Substrate

[antdude]

Hello I'm new to all this ant Buissness

Firstly I wanted to ask if used coffee grounds ,after being burnt to eleminate any bacteria , would adversely afect an ant colony
i know the myth that moms use coffee grounds to ward ants away from their plants so I wanted to be sure..

Also this morning I found around 6 solenopsis invicta queens, or so they seemed...
Anyways I stored the queens seperate in glass jars and stored them in a drawer with a moist cotton ball
(I didnt have any test tubes on hand)
and I came back after mabye 5 hours
the thing is when I came back I found 3 of the ants seeming to be dying, crippled up, and weak
im not sure what exacty to do about this so i just stuck them back in the drawer for now.
Any Ideas?

[Antspice]

Hi Friend,

I think it would depend on the species of ant - especially if they are affected by pH. It wouldn't hurt to make your set up, moisten it and leave it for an hour or two. If you go to your local chemist they should have some pH paper. Take your measurement, and then check your specific species of ant and if they can tolerate that range.

Kind regards,

Antspice