My first nuptial flights answers needed

[bowser]

Came out of work today at 6:30 to find ants flying everywhere, this is my first year since getting interested in ants and thanks to forums like this understanding what was actually going on. I was looking down and seeing queen ants without their wings scurrying around everywhere. I always envisaged it being quite hard to find a mated queen so went into a bit of a panic as I had nothing to collect them in. I decided to drive home get some containers and drive all the way back in the hope some were still there however as I sped home it became obvious by the hundreds of splats on my windscreen that the whole county was besieged with flying ants.

To my delight my garden was a completely infested so I didn’t need to go far to find queen ants I counted over 20 nests in the back garden, it was a complete warzone. Both Lasius Flavus (who had opened up there sealed underworld) and Lasius Niger were in full flight and there was one lone Myrmica nest right in the middle fighting off trespassers.

I got my tubs and started collected, there were literally thousands of queens I must of seen about 10 first hand landing, ripping their wings off and starting to burrow in the soil, some with the poor males still attached. It was great actually understanding what was going on.

Frustratingly I hadn’t ordered any caps or test tubes to keep the ants in which brings me, finally, to my questions. I have put the queens into small round food containers these are air tight and about the size of a muller yogurt pot.

How long will their air supply last in these small containers?

It is going to take a few days for test tubes to arrive in the post? Would the queens have wanted to start laying by this time or will I be ok transferring them in 2-4 days time?

Although I’ve heard the test tube set ups are ideal, could I put the new queens somewhere else or even leave them in the plastic tubs? the problem with this would be access to add water somehow.

I would appreciate any quick advice on how to give these girls the best start possible, do I wait for test tubes or do I need to act now?

Thanks for reading.

[Kyle]

If you keep the tubs quite light, and unhomely they should not start to lay eggs, so you could transfere them into the test tubes with little problem, as for them being air tight you could try heating up a needle and punching some small holes into the lid, or just till the tubes arrive if you don't want to do that you could just open the lid slightly for a few mins a day

As long as they feel safe they can more or less be kept in anything, as Mikey shows you can even keep them in a small Ytong style nest (It not Ytong he uses but similar idea), but as you say water can be a bit of a problem in some set-ups, depending on what you go for you could try putting a small test tube or other small vessal (I use these www.ants-kalytta.com/Reaction-vessel.html)

Good to see you enjoyed your first nuptial fight, we had one up here(down here (depending where you are lol)) in the NW of Kent, Lasius niger only so far tho, so still waiting for the Myrmica's which should not be long now ,

[Wood~Ant]

Hi Bowser,
Lucky you, as our local Lasius flavus haven't flown yet, but apparently many parts of Britain were infested with flying mating ants of various species yesterday.
Making a few small holes would help, although just simply opening the top of the container for a matter of 2-3 seconds is enough to fill the pots with fresh air.

If you place a bit of damp cotton wool inside these pots, the queen(s) will lay their eggs on this and can even raise their brood inside the pots. There main aim in life now is to produce a colony of workers as fast as they can, so they will not want to delay too long before laying any eggs.
As an alternative, you can use old clean jam jars or glass coffee jars with the plastic lids. Plastic lids can have very fine air holes made in them and jam jars can be covered on top with cling film, or a round top can be made from a clear plastic bag which is then fastened by using an elastic band.
Both types of jar can be half filled with damp soil or sand, as if you don't have test tubes available, it is amazing what you can improvise with that is found around the house

Your local DIY or supermarket store will sell small plastic items which can be adapted, and are often very suitable as ant queens will make a home in the most unusual places where they can find warmth, damp and darkness. Anywhere that offers peace and quiet will do just as long as the conditions are right
I successfully raised a colony of Lasius flavus inside a clean jam jar back in 1978 from 3 captured queens which I picked up from a mating flight in Herefordshire, as the 3 queens co-operated with each other which does happen within Lasius species even though they normally monogynous, and this colony thrives to this day in the garden at my dad's house back up in Cheshire.

Having a colony raised from a newly mated queen is a real thrill, as you can see the colony start from its early beginnings and hopefully become a large, mature one over time. If it gets too big you can always release it into the wild later, but that will take several years before that happens.
Good luck with your new girls, and do ask if you need more help

[bowser]

Thanks for the replies, I did put some wet cotton wool into the tubs late last night and virtually all ants have nestled around these this morning. I am concerned they are going to start laying in these tubs now, as they are food tubs I'll probably get in trouble for using them, hehe. My other concern is having to constantly open the tubs to add air, water or food disturbing them especially during hibernation. My test tubes will arrive Thursday, I think I'll put half in some set ups you've suggested and risk moving the rest into test tubes when they arrive.

[priestking]

Had some Lasius Niger nuptial flights here in the Midlands too and I manage to capture 6 queens from the yard. I bought the test tubes earlier but didn't have any cotton wool so I will be getting some tonight and doing a proper set up today before transferring the ants. The hardest part was capturing them as its hard to get hold of them whilst they try to avoid your fingers. I later learned that a sheet of paper comes in very handy! Hopefully I haven't injured any of the first 3 I caught but will wait and see..

Rob

[bowser]

Hi I am back with a little update, some pictures and more questions (which I've numbered) as I am paranoid I am going to mess up

My test tubes arrived but I should have checked the size as they are 75x16mm so not very long I've started transferring some of the queens into these small test tubes shown below.



1) Are these test tubes too small or will they be fine in the small space there.

2) Also wondering how long the water will last in these can I expect a lot of re-housing in the not too distant future, I obviously don’t want to re-house before new ants start hatching because I’d loose the brood.

3) I am also interested in knowing how many daughters to expect hatching before winter and hibernation sets in as I'll almost certainly need to move them to a bigger tube then?

4) Although its incredibly hard to see with the naked eye some ants have already laid in the temporary tubs as seen in the next pic. Would it be a disaster for the queen to loose these first eggs as a result of me moving her to a test tube? for the time being I have left the queens I think have laid already in the tubs.



Heres 4 closer pics I've put together and reduced the file size right down but should still be good enough to check the species for me. I believe 3 to be Lasius Niger and the 2nd one from the left is Lasius Flavus although the 3rd one looks a slightly different shape to the other Lasius Nigers I've caught.



5) Last question. I've read the queens have enough stores to raise the first batch with no food, is this right, do I just leave them in a dark place with no food? what is the queen feeding the larvae if there’s no protein for them? if this is the case do I wait until some have hatched before adding any food into the tubes?

Thanks once again for the great advice much appreciated.

Trev

[Wood~Ant]

Hi Trev,
I will try to answer those questions to the best of my ability, so here goes

1. The size of test tube is irrelevant really, as it is the space/room size of the claustral (secluded) cell or chamber that matters. so as long as each queen can move around and the space is about the length of say 3 queens, it should be fine.

2. If some tubes don't hold much water, then avoid placing them in very warm places as this will dry up the reservoir very quickly. Expect some to dry out faster than others, as using a smaller test tube does mean they hold less water.

3. The number of workers each queen will produce depends largely on the individual, as some may raise a dozen while others may raise far less. The average is usually between 7 and 10 according to how much body reserves a queen has stored up before mating.

4. If a queen loses her first eggs, she will lay more; but this will also weaken her to some degree. Eggs are easily damaged, but you can sometimes get them to stick on a cotton wool bud, or the end of a cocktail stick covered in a tiny bit of cotton wool. They can then be transferred along with the queen. Or simply leave these queens to raise the eggs into larvae, as this will make any transfer into a tube much easier.

5. You really don't need to give any food until the first workers are born, which should be about mid to late September. Young queen ants rearing their first brood will often ignore food anyway and leave it to go mouldy, and even a drop of honey could cause a disaster if any of the brood gets stuck and drowns in it, so it is better to leave things to nature, as when a newly mated queen seals herself into her claustral chamber she has no food supplies until her workers break out and forage for some

[bowser]

Thanks Wood Ant very helpful as always and I feel much more assured now so I'll just relax and leave them in peace for a while.

[bowser]

Although it took longer than I thought my queens have started to bring some daughters into the world for both my Niger and flavus queens. This brings me to another new chapter in ant keeping which I need members kind help with again regarding my current set up, food and hibernation so I hope you have the time to help me out.

Question 1) Set Up

In the earlier pictures in this post you will see that my queens were put into small test tubes these quickly dried out and not wanting to disturb the queens and their eggs I attached a larger tube onto each of the smaller ones in the hope the queens would move down into them. Unfortunately only 1 did despite making the larger tube more attractive by keeping it dark. As they now had water if they wanted it I didn’t seem to be a problem until the first workers started hatching. I now have two tubes connected together completely sealed with no easy way in for me to add food. So I have the dilemma of having to pull the tubes apart, add food and then reattach the larger tube with the water supply. With these new tiny and very fast girls in there its not an easy task as it would be with just one tube with one entrance blocked with cotton wool.

I need to decide if I place them all into larger set ups where I can add food into the tank for them to find, or

Somehow force them to move into the larger tubes with the water supply, or

Leave them how they are without food and just hibernate them.

Question 2) Food

2.1 When you talk about sugar and honey water is that simply honey from a honey jar with a bit of water added? Can you just add a bit of pure honey or does it have to be mixed with water? I have seen my queens around honey straight from the jar but not the workers but the drops never seem to go down and I am unsure how long I should keep the same honey drop in the nest before having to replace it with fresh even though it’s not been eaten.

2.2 Now that I have about 12 new queens catching insects for them myself is hard work. The local pet shop sells live food like mealworms and crickets, which would you recommend and if its crickets how do you kill and serve them most of the queens are Lasius niger

2.3 I also have some Lasius flavus queens, I’ve read on the forum they usually live off aphids underground, what can I feed them in a test tube or concrete block set up?

Question3) Hibernation

3.1 When do you expect to hibernate your colonies in England as this will help me to decide if I leave them in the current set ups or try to re-house them.?

3.2 I have a detached garage which has no heating will it be too cold for them in there over winter or is that about right I have never seen anything frozen in there?

3.3 Do I need to make sure they have water and food during hibernation?

Thanks
Trev

[Wood~Ant]

Let's start with the questions in order of post.

1. It is fine to leave the smaller colonies in the tubes, as although they don't have food, you could slow them down by keeping them cooler; but with any queen who may have 7+ workers, it is probably best to move them into a proper set up with more space and foraging area.
With Autumn now here they will slow down, but the weather is still warm enough for the workers to forage for food, even into early November as they don't begin hibernating until the end of next month as a rule.

2. Honey is fine on its own, but always mix pure cane sugar with water as it is hygroscopic and will make ants dehydrated. I usually mix a drop of water with pure honey and drop a few drops onto a small wad of cotton wool, as this stops any ants from accidentally drowning in the liquid. Honey which is set and contains bees wax is less fluid, but use any sticky foods sparingly.
Mealworms are better for small ants at this time of year, though I would chop off the head as they can fight ants. Crickets are better when a colony is older and stronger.

3. Placing your ants in the detached garage will be best done by wrapping some newspaper around the set ups or test tubes, as if we get heavy frosts the temperature will drop far too low for the ants to survive. In wild nests they go down deeper into the ground where permafrost cannot reach, so although they get almost frozen, they can still survive; and ants in colder regions also produce their own antifreeze inside their bodies.
If you a cold unheated room in your home, or perhaps a loft, this would be ideal to store ants over the winter. You could also use a fridge set at 3oC, but most ant keepers prefer a cold room, for even if the ants only go into a state of semi-hibernation it is better than none at all.

[bowser]

Thanks Wood Ant,

When it was cooler this morning I added some food to each set up, it was a frustrating process seperating the smaller test tubes from the larger one and holding my thumb over the smaller tubes while the ants started running around. I then added the food into the larger tubes and slotted them back together. I wish they would just move into the larger test tubes which have the water supply I do not see why they are so determind to stay in the smaller dried out test tubes.

Despite this I managed to add cotton wool soaked in honey as you suggested and placed each bit into a tiny foil cup so the tubes do not get sticky. I also added half a meal worm.

I am starting to notice personality differences with the queens. One seems much braver and bolder than the others always the first to investigate and has no hesitation leaving her eggs if theres some honey on offer. As soon as I added it her antenna were moving around and she was off to the end of the larger tube where I put the honey and started feeding, so I am guessing she can smell the honey before searching it out? Here boldness also seems to have been inherited by her young as while she was on the honey all 3 workers started on the mealworm which really pleased me but none of the workers in the other nests did. Some of the other colonies have been checking out the honey soaked cotton wool so thanks for that its obviously a hit.

The few Lasius Flavus I have don't seem to move, does this species still forage or do they struggle out of soil nests? Is the honey and mealworm ok for them?

[Wood~Ant]

Flavus will eat much the same as L. niger, but as they are more of an underground ant, then they do better in a soil set up. This doesn't mean you can't keep them in a ytong or plaster type nest, but they prefer total darkness being more light sensitive and moister conditions than most other Lasius species.