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Post by UKantz on May 3, 2013 15:21:12 GMT
This queen hasn't been doing so well in a test tube, so have moved her into a modified Worm world and she has dug a new chamber out of sight. Hopefully all goes well...
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 3, 2013 18:33:55 GMT
I've found that my previous Messor queens stressed because they were checked more than twice a week, or because they were in an easily disturbed place- they hate vibrations, for one thing. My current queen started out in a test tube with access to a soil enclosure, which they seem to prefer to more artificial surroundings, and Wood & Jen's Messors also seem to enjoy success in soil nests.
Good luck to you and your queen.
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 4, 2013 7:31:46 GMT
This queen hasn't been doing so well in a test tube, so have moved her into a modified Worm world and she has dug a new chamber out of sight. Hopefully all goes well... Let her settle in a warm dark place, or cover the worm world to shut out the light with something like a black bin bag. Messor barb queens are fully claustral, meaning they seal themselves into a chamber and stay there to lay there eggs. Only when she has raised her first workers will they start to forage for food. Any eggs she lays now should produce tiny workers in 7 to 8 weeks, whereas normally in this species it takes more like 10 or 11. So hopefully you might see your very first worker by the summer solstice around June 21st.
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Post by UKantz on May 4, 2013 8:20:59 GMT
Thanks Wood and Timenova, I think what worries me most is that I had been keeping her in a quiet, warm draw during the winter months (from around November to Febuary) and when I took her out of the draw to check on her she ate her eggs the next day. I don't think I have a great deal of luck with Messors, as this may soon to be my third colony to 'bite the dust' this inc my old Messor Wasmani queen.
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