need help urgent!!!

[iamantcrazy]

ok, now I have placed an order for my ants Lasius niger and they should arrive within the next 2 days making it the 16th of January. Should I put them into hibernation or wait for colony number to rise then place them into hibernation

[Phasmid]

Put them into hibernation right away or not at all, if you wait for the colony numbers to go up then it will be too late to put them into hibernation this winter.
If the supplier has been hibernating them properly this winter then they should be fine if you don't continue the hibernation.
How ever it is prob. safer if you give them another month in the cold first and make sure they aren't too hungry, they may need a sugar top-up.

[Wood~Ant]

I tend to agree with Phasmid on this, as if they have been kept by the supplier correctly, then they should be in a state of semi-hibernation at the very least.

Keep them cool and inactive until March, but if they are showing signs of being active already, then offer a little honey or sugar water. The queen should not begin laying eggs before mid March at the earliest, and April into May are the main months for eggs.

Don't panic if the workers or queen do nothing for the next couple of months, as until it warms up and they feel settled, they will not begin to dig tunnels or chambers; and certainly should not require much food until your queen ant has laid the first eggs of this new colony

[iamantcrazy]

thank you very much phasmid and wood, very good information thnx ;D

[Honeydewman]

From personnal experience I have found with Lasius Niger that if correctly kept they can be left active through Winter.

I would not let a colony ordered through a 3rd party hibernate until satisfied that they were well fed and the new Queen began to lay eggs.

For info: All my new Home Grown colonies were kept @ 18 degrees celcius to guarentee that at least 3-6 workers were hatched and gathering before Spring. All my Niger colonies were a year ahead of colonies that were left dormant.

I have previously had 2 ordered colonies and both perished.


If you wonder how to keep up protein intake?
The Niger loves chopped up locusts or crickets, which are available from all pet shops.

[Deleted]

I have to start buying some live crickets etc.., people will think I am mad chasing insects around the place!

[formica]

The more insects you feed them the faster they will grow. I wouldnt place them into hibernation until november or december.
I have a small Lasius niger colony.