Lasius Niger Queen and 3 workers just gave up?

Let us know of your ant colonies or queens that have passed away. We will grieve together but will also learn why your ants may not have succeeded.

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Hunter36o
Posts: 376
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:57 am
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Lasius Niger Queen and 3 workers just gave up?

Post: # 54834Post Hunter36o
Mon Dec 17, 2018 11:49 am

Okay I only remembered to post this now because of a different topic I replied to on a different subforum. This actually happened at the end of September.

So as implied they gave up?
It started with the workers, I noticed they stopped eating. Their food was fresh as always and it was the same stuff fed to my other founding stage colonies. Pure honey and cricket legs. Their feeds were in sync with the rest and I did my upmost to ignore them all as much as possible (in fairness however the ant colony the got the most "unwanted" attention is also the biggest and doing just fine)
The workers left the test tube that, okay had a little bit of ant poo and stuff, not the cleanest but by no means moldy and one tube got very moldy so I actually got to see the difference. The queen was still in the test tube doing her thing. The ants also never touched the food while like this and never went back to the queen when ever I saw them that is. All 3 died out within 2 days of one and other. Then about 5 days after that the queen left the test tube and eventually the same result.
I checked the test tube as soon as I was sure she was gone to a better place. I noticed larvae and eggs and desired to dump them outside of another colony's tube in the outworld (plastic food container well cleaned) this colony was smaller, one worker fully active and one fresh little pale one. The active worker eventually came and took the prize and if I am honest I do not know if they ate the eggs and larvae or kept them, I'm not 100% on what actually happens in that situation. Anyway I investigated and found no clear evidence for my inexperienced eyes to believe a mold of some sort was at play and the ants that either got brood boosted or had one heck of a meal are still alive and are currently in hibernation. I know ant queen's can just die off as is nature's way to control over population but the workers went first and it was not like oh your dead. It really is like they just decided to quit ??
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

ClashOwenBash
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Jul 15, 2018 1:58 am
Location: Oxfordshire, England

Re: Lasius Niger Queen and 3 workers just gave up?

Post: # 54856Post ClashOwenBash
Tue Dec 18, 2018 2:31 am

Does sound weird. The mold could have effected the air flow with spores or the workers simply refused to care for the queen. Anyway things didn't sound natural. The workers should have been with the queen.
Ant-keeper going into his 4th year of loving ants!

Hunter36o
Posts: 376
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:57 am
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: Lasius Niger Queen and 3 workers just gave up?

Post: # 54859Post Hunter36o
Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:46 am

That is what I thought. Even in a bad situation I was under the impression the workers would have insisted on making the queen move but instead they simply ignored her. I cannot wrap my head around it his one at all and I cannot find anything like this that has happened to someone else.
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

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