r/Antkeeping 🐜

Heyy, i have 4 small colonies (2messor barbarus Queen with egg, 2 lasius flavius 1-10 workers) i really want to feed the colonies some protein. I have mealworms in house and jelly cubs. I think the meelworms are a bit to big. So i was looking for other succes of protein, while the colonies grow. I know fruitflies are really good, but i also found that the jelly vubs have protein. But not every site says this. Is this true? Do they have protein? Am i making the right decisions?

When i try to look for information on ants i always find information on ant pests :/

Good morning,

I bought a harvester colony last year around May, and I had a queen and about 14 workers, was meant to be 10 workers but I got lucky.

Ive lost a couple on the way, but I currently have the queen with 12 workers. I've seen her lay eggs, and the workers carrying around the eggs/larvae. But the colony doesn't seem to be growing in size.

I feed them seeds, sugar water, and protein jelly pots. I've never been a fan of the pots, but they seem to be the only ones available online. I do this every few days. They have created their food storage, it's pretty big.

The queen is large, and shiny. Very active.

I was just wondering if anyone has any tips, or can point me in the right direction to achieving a larger colony.

Took 2 days but it turned out awesome! Great for my carpenter ants. Its not perfect, but its got all the basic elements. All held together with magnents and tubing. Think it came out great for a first try...any tips, critisms, or comments on how to improve are very welcomed

Im new to this so wondering first off other then honey sugar water and worms what should i be feeding my ants, also how can i fees them safely? Every time i give them sugar water in a small bottle cap one will get stuck in the water and die. Has happened 2 days in a row and they cannot afford to be losing workers. I have some liquid feeders ordered but what else can i do for now. Should i just set up a test tube with sugar water/cotton? Is that viable? Same for honey what can i do to make sure theyre not getting stuck in the honey?

Hello,I started keeping ants about a year ago, but fear I'm still making (a lot) of mistakes, especially in regards to feeding I still have questions.

FYI, I have 2 messor barbarus colonies that I bought, and some lasius niger queens that I caught last summer. Originally for my son, but he lost interest and I'm hooked ;) The messor have an outworld, the lasius are still in test tubes. My questions:

- how often do you feed the lasius? I'v been giving a cotton soaked in sugar water and half a mealworm every week. I've read that you're supposed to remove the left overs within 24-48 hours, but isn't that disturbing them too much? And do you then already feed again?

- if there's only a few workers, will they find the food if I give each colony an outworld, or is a test tube setup better at the start (and feed in there)?

- I've been reading confliciting information about messor barbarus and sugar. Quite a lot of ants sites (/vendor sites) put sugar in the diet, but then I also hear they can't process sugar...

- As I mentioned, I've been cutting mealworms in half. Is that ok for starting colonies, or would fruit flies be better (I find them inconvenient vs frozen mealworms)?

PS: how critical is nest hydration? I hydrate a small section, but then I always hit the side (freaking out the messor) and often they start remove all the seesds from the nest...

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Quite a lot of questions I know, but any (partial) help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

So if money was no issue what would be the perfect setup for my new messor barbarus colony? My criteria (in addition of course to the setup being beneficial for my messors) are:

1. It needs to be growth proof (I don’t want to change setup often);
2. It needs to look good (it’s going to have to stand in my living room and my partner isn’t to happy with this new hobby);
3. I need to be able to clean it good (I like it to look not dirty and mouldy when it’s in my living room).

Money isn’t a real issue. I’ve looked at the ant cube setup from Antcube (really like the look), the ytong nests from esthetic ants, wakooshi, etc… I’m a tad autistic so I’ve really been obsessing with finding a good setup and I’m getting a bit anxious. So you’re helping and advice is really appreciated. Some xtra info: im located in Europe and I have a queen with 5 workers in a testtube and mini outworld now.

I know there are certain conditions that nuptial flights take place in, depending on the species - humidity, temperature, etc. My question is, how long is the window of these flights? In the same local area, are they generally finished within a day or two? Thank you!

I have a jar Terrairum with Pheidole Bicaranata, they are thriving, great amount of workers, majors etc. 4 months ago when I started the terrarium I dumped in a lasius neoniger queen that was lethargic and weak, she could barely move and had not laid egg, I figure she was non-fertile and was a goner, so I dumped her in to nourish the other critters in the terrarium. I figured she was eaten for nutrients. However today while looking at the pheidoles, I noticed 2 of these workers, (captured 1), definitely not pheidoles because of their movement and size. I think the dying queen survived and has workers now. Not sure how they manage to survive till now in a jar with pheidoles but is this bad? Im still fresh at all this.

I was wondering if there is any sort of cheap special camera or some sort of magnifying lens you use to view the ants better? Maybe even something akin to a mini microscope? What do most people use?

I live in wisconsin if that helps

Ive got pogonomyrmex occidentalis so ive got to keep my nest pretty warm, mid 80⁰s. My problem is there's so much condensation on the glass 24/7 i harldy can see them. Also with warm conditions its gonna mold up quickly for sure. Ive tried leaving the outworld lid off for ventilation since the ants can't climb a single inch let alone past a barrier. I did NOT fill the nest mate with water, so its basically just a tube with a screen for even more airflow. The water dish/reservoir i started at half-full last week, ive since tried going all the way dry only adding water once the glass was clear again. Only thing that works is turning the heater off and having the nest below 74⁰, which is not idea for this species. Any tips? Am i missing something?

Ive got pogonomyrmex occidentalis so ive got to keep my nest pretty warm, mid 80⁰s. My problem is there's so much condensation on the glass 24/7 i can harldy see them. Also with warm conditions its gonna mold up quickly. Ive tried leaving the outworld lid off for ventilation since the ants can't climb a single inch let alone past a fluon barrier. I did NOT fill the nest mate with water, so its basically just a tube with a screen for even more airflow. The water dish/ reservoir i started at half-full last week, ive since tried going all the way dry only adding water once the glass was clear again

Just got home from work to notice my L.Niger colony have stacked all their brood in the tubing connecting their nest to their outworld.Not sure how long they've been like this for but when I noticed it they were taking them back into the nest.

Does anyone know why my ants would do this odd behaviour?

Thanks

I am looking for some test tubes and ant nests. Can you guys help me? I am also new to the antkeeping community.

When my ants were moving into their nest I saw a strange brown liquid in the vinyl tubing?

Hi I have a question for a begginer which one is better I love the colors of flavus and i also like the fact that if you have like 2-3 queens they will be able to start up together but Niger is also cool for their speed and bravery so what do I choose?