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Post by Stutheant on Dec 20, 2013 15:23:26 GMT
Sweet, can I ask where did you get the multi-faced ytong nest from? (it was free standing in a tank).
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Post by Stutheant on Dec 20, 2013 15:07:18 GMT
mmm same here lol. Probably be taxed though (per worker)....
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Post by Stutheant on Nov 27, 2013 17:20:09 GMT
'The Curator', curious. He simply referred himself as the Curator.
Yes, 13 Drs, I hope it is not the BBC saying we are now going to change it or we have ran its course lets finish it after Capaldi, however now that the Time Lords are back (and they always where there) I am sure they can grant the Dr 12 more regenerations!
And yes I am anti 'Mrs Dr Who' and I do miss the screaming assistants, and in this day and age I am sure we can get away with a male assistant screaming, but we need a male Dr, somehow eccentricity works better with men! Eccentric woman tend to own a lot of cats, and that would not work to well in the TARDIS.
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Post by Stutheant on Nov 27, 2013 11:41:25 GMT
Day of the Doctor was good. I always wondered what if he bumped into his older selves. I understand the first three Drs have passed and the 4th looks quite old now. But I did wonder if they could have included the 5th and 7th (Davidson and McCoy) somehow in the plot of Day of the Dr to mark the 50th but I suppose they are from a different era. The 6th I never really got on with.
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Post by Stutheant on Oct 10, 2013 16:56:45 GMT
I use coral sand mix as well. Anyhow just checked on the freshly hibernating Camp Laterallis and they now have 2 workers. So I am now looking forward to seeing this ant out of hibernation next year. Though a general gripe about my house, no one told me they had replaced my dark windows in my dark room with a new window (a small velux type window) so the room is now light. I will need to darken it. Only thing about that is I do not want the Queens getting use with dark conditions, as the way I have them set up I can see what is going on 99% of the time!
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Post by Stutheant on Oct 10, 2013 15:47:28 GMT
My basins all have white as there medium. Just a thin layer, but I can watch them move about without squinting! Next year when the Manica come out of hibernation I will attach a basin for them to hunt.
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Post by Stutheant on Oct 10, 2013 10:56:29 GMT
Are there no corpses sbeone?
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Post by Stutheant on Sept 30, 2013 18:29:04 GMT
Hmm good read. I had a formica fusca, which had red acetate on the front glass of its formicarium and detected my hand movement in front of the glass.
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Post by Stutheant on Sept 26, 2013 17:30:32 GMT
I remember my first Dr was Peter Davidson, and my first ever episode was the regeneration from Tom Baker to Peter. Although he was my first Dr, my favourite of those years was Sylvester McCoy. But recently I thought Ecclestone was a great Dr, as he was new, fresh and quite cool if you see what I mean!
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Post by Stutheant on Sept 26, 2013 17:09:07 GMT
Just read this article on them www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1395066/Heading-kitchen-new-aggressive-army-Argentine-ants.htmlAlthough I live in the North of England, it is worrying IF they settle under a shed with a boiler. And if you think about it, what if they acclimatise, the colony sizes would have swelled thanks to the summer! There is two worrying problems apart from the infestation problem, 1st where did they come from or who let them off. 2nd, as ant-keepers we have a duty to keep and protect the species we have in a controlled way and we are lucky we still don't have many, if any safeguards in place to bring ants into the UK (via AntStore for example). I love this hobby, it is great watching the MEssors, and the Poly' Dives at work, but I would not like to see controls placed because some small minded keeper dumped them.
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Post by Stutheant on Sept 25, 2013 15:58:21 GMT
I do find it strange my Camp Hercs own brood have not developed past the brood stage. I know they are slow to grow but these have been brood since June.
I wonder if they release a pheromone that tells the brood to grow at different stages.
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Post by Stutheant on Sept 25, 2013 15:34:40 GMT
Finally and 6 days before the hibernation cool-down, my Camponotus Laterallis has a worker!
I purchased the Camp Laterallis a bit too early (regarding my experience) and basically just 'dumped' her into the formicarium. This stressed her out a lot and she lost all her brood. So I spoke to the chap at CG Ants and he said place her back in the test tube (I did not purchase the CL from CG) and place her somewhere safe. SO I did. However no brood was laid. I remember reading about placing brood from another ant and she will take it as her own. So I placed some Camponotus Herc brood into her test tube then placed her in the dark for a week. When I removed her to check she had laid her own brood and the CH brood was still there. The CH brood has now developed into a small worker (I thought CH workers would be bigger)..
The other good news, my Messor Barbarus has got 1 super-major in there now! What an impressive ant that is!
Anyway 5 days and counting. till hibernation. The MB are not going to go with the other ants to hibernation, I am just going to switch the heat mat and the bulb off so they can hibernate and room temp.
When I have sorted my business I am going to start a journal, and hopefully get some snaps!
Stuart
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Post by Stutheant on Sept 18, 2013 12:09:18 GMT
I have my colonies getting ready to hibernate start of October (I call it the cool down), basically all the heat lamps will be off the Messor and the Manica will be at room temp and the P'Dives, will probably cool down also but when we reach end of October they will remain in the office while the MB's and MR's will be removed to my old dark room (where it fluctuates between 8C-12C and it is pitch black) for the full hibernating period.
I will admit last night I removed food from my P'Dives formicarium and accidently nudged the half coco-nut and about 100 swarmed out, so they are doing great!
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Post by Stutheant on Sept 18, 2013 10:30:40 GMT
Interesting. So I can turn my full heating set up and have my P'Dives at room temp for a few months to give the few months? (room temp varies between 18C to 24C, rising occasionally to 50C+ when I have had a busy wedding/trade and I am stressed out...)
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Post by Stutheant on Sept 18, 2013 0:34:34 GMT
Well I am. It has been a good year for most of my colonies! 1 or 2 died, but the others are doing well, however I am really looking forward to putting them into hibernation so I can have a break. Only my P'Dives to worry about! Any one else looking forward to a break?
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