How to estimate colony numbers

[SolenopsisKeeper]

How do you estimate the amount of workers in a colony? Let’s so for example, Solenopsis invicta. How would you estimate worker count if all workers were media workers and bunched up in a test tube. Most people would say base it on age, but what if it is wild caught?

[SYUTEO]

How I usually do it is to measure a small part of the test tube, count how many workers are in that small part, count how many parts of the test tube has that same amount of workers and multiply the numbers of the workers in that small part by the number of small parts you made in that test tube. It may not be 100% accurate but that's the best way I can think of.

[AntsLuxembourg]

Start counting until you loose track. Then start to make wild guesses and think of even wilder ways to count until you see that it's mostly pointless unless you start to count them all one by one which is usually very much impossible. So you can try to do it by volume and estimate the amount on the rest or you just make a someone good guess. But it's save to say that there is at least 5 ants inside.

[SolenopsisKeeper]

Start counting until you loose track. Then start to make wild guesses and think of even wilder ways to count until you see that it's mostly pointless unless you start to count them all one by one which is usually very much impossible. So you can try to do it by volume and estimate the amount on the rest or you just make a someone good guess. But it's save to say that there is at least 5 ants inside.

Ok thanks!