What temperature for a carpenter queen?

[KaputRey]

I recently caught my first carpenter and queen. I have a small set up prepared, but my stuff is in my basement which can get quite cold and I wanted to know what temperature would be good for then. It's usually around 60 degrees so any recommendations on types of heat pads that can get them to a comfortable temperature?

[SYUTEO]

Through my research, the ideal temperature should be 24-28 Celcius (75-85 Farenheit).

[Formicology]

I’ve caught a number of camponotus pennsylvanicus queens over the years and literally all of them that I’ve kept in test tubes at “basement” room temperature (~68f) have died within a few weeks.

But what I’ve found works like magic, is keeping their test tubes in my unheated/uncooled garage.

I live in Columbus, OH, so it will get up to +95f in the summer and -30f in the winter. And literally every queen that I’ve kept has LOVED it!

I keep them covered in a toolbox drawer, so even though it gets pretty cold in the winter, the test tubes never freeze.

My current queen was caught last summer and over-wintered like a champ! Now she has a colony of around 25 workers, including a couple of MASSIVE majors and a ton of brood.

Right now, her test tube is attached to an AC test tube portal to provide them sugar water, but I’m about to connect an AC Hybrid Nest. And I’ll probably keep them in the garage in this setup until next spring and then, when their numbers are high enough, I’ll connect them to a terrarium setup in my house.