Over feeding...

[baggers]

Is there such a thing... As they keep taking the flies back to there nest will they just ignore them if not hungry, I understand they store food but will it go bad....

[Black Ant]

Ants never seem to eat a lot, but the hungry larvae do. So overfeeding flies will just go to for brood growth, the adult ants will eat as much as they need. 

[baggers]

That's good to know thank you just making the most of it as there seems to be a lot of flies around at the moment!

[Jenny]

If you get overwhelmed with flies, now is a good time to store some in a pot in the freezer (if the mrs approves  ) ready for next Spring when they get hungry again and there is no live food. 

[Deleted]

Good idea, I think I will try that!

[Honeydewman]

In my experience the more food there is the more brood you see. My Nigers are constantly tackling the insects I put in for them.

It's a full time job keeping x10's thousands of hungry mouths fed... ..I wonder if they appreciate it?

[baggers]

Cheers for the input all!

Yeah your right does make you wonder how much food they do find themselves during there normal foraging in the wild. Ours get endless supply of creatures with very little effort so spoilt :-)

[Wood~Ant]

Jul 6, 2013 12:18:17 GMT baggers said:

Cheers for the input all!

Yeah your right does make you wonder how much food they do find themselves during there normal foraging in the wild. Ours get endless supply of creatures with very little effort so spoilt :-)

Remind me to pop round to your house when I am short of ant food. 

Ants are like spiders, inasmuch as they can go for long periods (weeks or even months) on very little or no food; and so excess insect prey can be frozen in plastic pots for future use. It is only the larvae who are greedy little buggers and need lots of protein for growth stages to become pupae and eventually adult ants. 

[baggers]

Yeah too right wood ant :-) fly count 35 today I have started storing them.

Happy days