Queen's 2nd meal (protein right?)

[MCWren]

Termites I catch from the wild. make a trap by rubber banding a few sheets of card board together than wetting it, than stick it under a log for a few weeks and BAM!

So I see the termite trap worked?

[AntsRule]

Yes it did! Thanks for sharing that trick! Yep only thing I my mom says I can keep them live so I kill them outside

[MadVampy]

Just remember two things when catching wild insects.

#1 Do not do it anywhere near houses or buildings. There is always the chance that they may have come in contact with some sort of insecticide.

#2 Any wild caught insects increase your chance of infesting your nests/colonies with mites. Mites can be so small you won't notice them on the insects.

Just thought I would throw that out there.

[EdgarFromLatvia]

Just remember two things when catching wild insects.

#1 Do not do it anywhere near houses or buildings. There is always the chance that they may have come in contact with some sort of insecticide.

#2 Any wild caught insects increase your chance of infesting your nests/colonies with mites. Mites can be so small you won't notice them on the insects.

Just thought I would throw that out there.

So, you catch them away from home and then boil or freeze to get rid of mites?

[Austheboss]

Just remember two things when catching wild insects.

#1 Do not do it anywhere near houses or buildings. There is always the chance that they may have come in contact with some sort of insecticide.

#2 Any wild caught insects increase your chance of infesting your nests/colonies with mites. Mites can be so small you won't notice them on the insects.

Just thought I would throw that out there.

So, you catch them away from home and then boil or freeze to get rid of mites?

No, do eBay like durant said. You can easily order some in bulk
(Mealworms, crickets, cockroaches)
So yah. Good luck
And I'm pretty sure it's not auction, so no worry there.

[Geffbro]

status update: i went to petsmart indeed and got freeze-dried crickets, tossed a leg into my 2 test tubes and the first one with 18 workers was quite a hit, they all zerged it and brought it into the brood section, second test tube with 6 workers i accidentally placed it in the honey and the 2 they sent after it couldnt get it out.

Once the coast was clear i prodded it a bit further in but they didnt seem to notice it, hopefully by tomorrow they will have grabbed it. I really hope these ants will accept freeze dried crickets or mealworms because they sell them in insanely efficient portions and they are very convenient.

[MCWren]

Just remember two things when catching wild insects.

#1 Do not do it anywhere near houses or buildings. There is always the chance that they may have come in contact with some sort of insecticide.

#2 Any wild caught insects increase your chance of infesting your nests/colonies with mites. Mites can be so small you won't notice them on the insects.

Just thought I would throw that out there.

Good point... I should probably start freezing the termites before I feed them to my ants. Also, termites are very unlikely to carry pesticides, since they are very susceptible to them, and not at all resistant. So far, all of my colonies have loved termites. They're a great food source.

[Austheboss]

So buy a few crickets and freeze them. That way they keep a while and freezing gets rid of most parasites. I have a bearded dragon so he eats live crickets anyway. I feed my small colony's cricket legs and squashed termites. You have to make sure the insect is completely dead or else you can scare the colony. Squash it and rip it in two to be safe since nerves can still fire after death. Some sp. are formic acid sprayers and if they spray a dead insect that moves because of nerve they can die because to formic acid gets trapped in the test tube. They might not want protein yet so just see how it goes

Everything is going smoothly! I got 3 pinhead crickets, ripped one in half and gave it to them, and they gobbled it up. They are continually being fed, and doing well. Honey and crickets work for them. It looks like their next batch of workers will be huge, so I'm excited (around 5 workers). Hopefully things will ramp up from there. Thanks for the help!

[EdgarFromLatvia]

So buy a few crickets and freeze them. That way they keep a while and freezing gets rid of most parasites. I have a bearded dragon so he eats live crickets anyway. I feed my small colony's cricket legs and squashed termites. You have to make sure the insect is completely dead or else you can scare the colony. Squash it and rip it in two to be safe since nerves can still fire after death. Some sp. are formic acid sprayers and if they spray a dead insect that moves because of nerve they can die because to formic acid gets trapped in the test tube. They might not want protein yet so just see how it goes

Freezing is a good idea, but can you boil them too?

[MCWren]

So buy a few crickets and freeze them. That way they keep a while and freezing gets rid of most parasites. I have a bearded dragon so he eats live crickets anyway. I feed my small colony's cricket legs and squashed termites. You have to make sure the insect is completely dead or else you can scare the colony. Squash it and rip it in two to be safe since nerves can still fire after death. Some sp. are formic acid sprayers and if they spray a dead insect that moves because of nerve they can die because to formic acid gets trapped in the test tube. They might not want protein yet so just see how it goes

Freezing is a good idea, but can you boil them too?

I know people do it for other feeder insects, so I doubt it would be a problem for termites.