New Nest Mate!

[betsywetsy]

Hey... My name is BetsyWetsy..... I am Kenshin's mom. I am new to the Ant world. My son & I have decided since we started too late in the season, and haven't had much luck capturing any queens, that we are going to spend the winter building a giant ant farm close to the size of a 65" big screen tv. (Ant World style formicarium), while researching as much as we can on "Ant Hill World". Looking forward to meeting you all and becoming good friends.

According to what Kenshin tells me, Jenant, WoodAnt and Formicalondon are the top experts on Ant Hill World. Here in the USA, we can not buy ants online, so we are going to need all the help we can get from our friends here on Ant Hill World.

Kenshin has applied for a permit from the USDA to buy/sell Queen ants across borders. After he called the USDA and also spoke to the Ant store, they said as long as he presents a permit, we can have one of our friends in the UK (we have none) send ants to us. Ant store themselves do not ship to the USA (permit or no permit) but the person we spoke to said that we can import them from a third party. (a friend in the UK) We then spoke to the USDA, and they said that with a permit, we will have no problem with anyone sending us ants from the UK, (depending on species) so once the permit comes in the mail, it would be really nice if we could receive a little help from our friends here on Ant Hill World.

Thanks again for having me here on Ant Hill World! BetsyWetsy

[Jenny]

Hi BetsyWetsy and welcome to AHW Also thanks to Kenshin for recommending us I wish you well on your new anting venture, and we will be around to give you any assistance that we can....

Cheers Jenant

[Formicalondon]

I would suggest finding out what species you are allowed to import before building your set-up as different species require slightly different conditions., also did you mention the fact to the USDA that it will be queens as well as worker ants you will be importing?. I think maybe 65" inches is a little excessive but I am always more than happy to discuss and advise peoples designs and ideas for formicariums.

[o0kensh1n0o]

Your right Formica, we are going to get a list of all species that are not banned off the importation list from the USDA. I am trying to remember the branch we are dealing with... (Department of Botany and Plant Pests) I think was the one. But I definitely want it to be an underground type ant, with really superb tunneling abilities. I do not know how good a choice this would be, but I really would like to try my hand first with the Lasius Niger Black Garden Ant, since they seem to be the easiest for beginners, and the hardiest for their conditions and survival rates.

I know that 65" might sound a little excessive, but ever since I saw this giant formacarium in a science lab, it has been my dream to make a big one ever since. I just never thought that the Ant World sized formas would ever be big enough to house a mature colony 2-3 years down the road.

Anyway, any tips and suggestions you can give us on how to keep ants are always welcome Formica, if I had to guess our first serious colony will probably be of the Lasius Niger species. Please let me know any "must have" info on them, as far as keeping them goes. Thanks a bunch for your interest. Take it easy, and God Bless. Later Days....... =P






Edit: From what I have found so far, it seems the only banned species off the importation list are mostly types of Fire Ants, even though I would love to keep fire ants one day, I am sure I can just find them in the back of our complex next spring. So I doubt I will have any problems with them, =).

[betsywetsy]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I guess my son was right, the first 2 people to welcome us, and comment on our situation were on the list of people Kenshin said were the best on here.

We definitely are Ant Lovers, and cannot wait to build our first Formacarium, so any hints and tips you have on building a good one would be greatly appreciated Formicalondon. Especially what to build it out of, and other materials that will make the ants feel at home and comfortable. Thanks again for the welcome, and I am so happy to be part of the colony here at Ant Hill World! Love to All, and God Bless! -BetsyWetsy xoxo

[Wood~Ant]

Hi and welcome to the Ant Hill. It is nice to see another lady member among the ranks of males
From what Kenshin and I have been discussing lately, I think I am slowly converting him into a Doctor Who/Dalek fan too, and I am pleased he his enjoying my stories.
Has he read the children's stories about ants I did on my Ant Hill Wood site. They are not as adult as the Dalek ones, but I always welcome comments about any of my fiction

[Formicalondon]

The only problem I can think of with a Lasius species is that they will require hibernation, and with Florida having a subtropical I could see that being a problem, and especially as you want to build such a large formicarium placing them into a cool place over the winter season could be a problem. I think you would be better of with a Species like Messor barbarus that doesn’t require hibernation. And I think half the size of the set-up you suggested would be more than suitable for a Lasius niger.