Beginner with Tetramorium Caespitum e

[jodyduda]

I just bought my son a queen and 15 workers. They are in a test tube set up. The water under the cotton ball is almost gone. I tried putting drops of water on the cotton ball, but a few drowned. I have tried to get them to move into another test tube by tapping them together. A few escaped, but I was able to catch them & retutn them to the test tube. Please advise on what I should do.

[ClashOwenBash]

I just bought my son a queen and 15 workers. They are in a test tube set up. The water under the cotton ball is almost gone. I tried putting drops of water on the cotton ball, but a few drowned. I have tried to get them to move into another test tube by tapping them together. A few escaped, but I was able to catch them & retutn them to the test tube. Please advise on what I should do.

Make a new test tube setup will a full water supply. Then place it with the old test tube, maybe use a bit of sticky tap to hold them together so that the ants can move from one to the other. But don't completely surround the join with tap as air still needs to get in! I assume it's winter where you are so the ants want to enter hibernation (more information online about how to achieve hibernation). This means that the ants probably won't move out of the old test tube. However you could try covering up the new test tube and place a light near the old test tube (make sure it doesn't cook the ants). This should prompt the ants to move into the darker "safer" new test tube. Then allowing you to separate the test tubes and leave your colony to hibernate in their new home which has lots of water.

I hope this helps, and feel free to ask any questions.

[harvesterant]

That was a good summary of what you should do. Remember to feed the ants in the test tube though.