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Advice on found colony.
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:52 am
by Mattisius
I was doing yard work and cutting down trees and happened upon a Camponotus Pennsylvanicus colony inside a section of hallowed out tree that almost went into the fire. I was wanting to try and keep it because I actually found the queen and about 50-80 workers. I’m not sure what the best approach would be. I know that the ants usually remain inactive in the winter which they seem to be now. Should I attempt to move them to a formicarium, or should I just place their log inside a bin with a water and food source and wait for the weather to warm or bring them inside to warm up?
Re: Advice on found colony.
Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:13 am
by ClashOwenBash
Mattisius wrote: ↑Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:52 am
I was doing yard work and cutting down trees and happened upon a Camponotus Pennsylvanicus colony inside a section of hallowed out tree that almost went into the fire. I was wanting to try and keep it because I actually found the queen and about 50-80 workers. I’m not sure what the best approach would be. I know that the ants usually remain inactive in the winter which they seem to be now. Should I attempt to move them to a formicarium, or should I just place their log inside a bin with a water and food source and wait for the weather to warm or bring them inside to warm up?
Wait for when they leave hibernation, then move them into a formicarium.
Re: Advice on found colony.
Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:42 am
by UnrealSparks
Mattisius wrote: ↑Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:52 am
I was doing yard work and cutting down trees and happened upon a Camponotus Pennsylvanicus colony inside a section of hallowed out tree that almost went into the fire. I was wanting to try and keep it because I actually found the queen and about 50-80 workers. I’m not sure what the best approach would be. I know that the ants usually remain inactive in the winter which they seem to be now. Should I attempt to move them to a formicarium, or should I just place their log inside a bin with a water and food source and wait for the weather to warm or bring them inside to warm up?
As Clash said.
Wait until February/March, when they'll come out of hibernation, and only then move the log somewhere where you can collect the colony.
Warming them up now would mean to bother their natural cycle and thus destabilizing the health of the colony.
Re: Advice on found colony.
Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 5:37 am
by Mattisius
Ok thanks. Until then should I just leave them in the storage been inside the section of log? And should I provide water and auger and protein sources? Because I live in Mississippi where it doesn’t get too cold, but even in winter there are some warm days.
Re: Advice on found colony.
Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2018 6:49 am
by UnrealSparks
Mattisius wrote: ↑Fri Dec 07, 2018 5:37 am
Ok thanks. Until then should I just leave them in the storage been inside the section of log? And should I provide water and auger and protein sources? Because I live in Mississippi where it doesn’t get too cold, but even in winter there are some warm days.
Yeah, I'd leave them where they are for now. If you want, and you see them foraging, you can provide them some sugar water but no protein is needed since they don't lay eggs during winter.
Re: Advice on found colony.
Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2018 5:20 pm
by MadVampy
Yea what they said! Hats off to ya for wanting to adopt this colony and not simply turning them into ash! More people need to understand how important of a role ants play in our ecosystem, just like the importance of bees!