Ant Queen care

[antkeeper77]

Hello! I recently caught an Myrmica rubra queen and (obviously) I want to start a colony. And I wonder the following questions:
1. Do I need to catch more queens to start a colony, and if, then how many?
2. Witch setup is best, should I have a acrylic bin with a tubs and tubes setup, or what?
3. If I have, let's say 3 queens and want to start a colony with them, how do I house them, should they be together or separated, how do I make them not fight?
Hope you can answer my questions, it would mean a lot.
Thanks!

[anonymous1234568]

If you are a beginner in ant farming, I suggest you not try making a multi queen colony yet. Though the Myrmica rubra can combine colonys, I don't know if they will do it in the wild. For their formacarium I suggest you buy a ant tower with an out world that is decorated like a garden.

[anonymous1234568]

I made a mistake I meant that they might not combine colonys in captivity

[antkeeper77]

Ok thanks!

[antkeeper77]

But can I add another queen when theres like, 150 workers?

[anonymous1234568]

You could, but it would be up to your ants if they want her or not, so it is very risky. You could try if there are over 50 workers because if they don't accept the new queen the new queen wouldn't be able to kill the original queen so you can reproduce the ants that died in the battle. Keep in mind to put the queen in the outworld and not inside to formicarium.

[antkeeper77]

Okay but heres the deal, I connected a ant tower to an outworld and the queen have dug down. Will she go to the outworld to eat or should I put food in the tower. And what should I feed her with? And also how soon can I expect her to lay eggs.
Thanks for responding really apriciate it, and you seem to have some anntkeeping experiance, how long have you been doing this for?

[anonymous1234568]

Does she have nanitics

[antkeeper77]

She doesn't have nanitics, I caught her yesterday

[antkeeper77]

Should I feed her in the tower?