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Post by Blem12 on May 3, 2011 19:54:11 GMT
Good evening, The aphids were farmed for a week but as the plant died the a[hids went with it too. The myrmica rubra were fed 3 blue bottle flies which they swarmed over and disected them into moveable pieces. The pieces were then put in the larvae chambers to be eaten. The colony is doing well with no deaths at the moment. Chambers are expanding. This colony seems to be very fond of ''Ant jelly''. I have not re-applied the PTFE yet and it is still working a charm. Nothing more to update. Thanks, Blem12.
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Post by Blem12 on May 12, 2011 19:35:23 GMT
Good evening, Here's an update: I have re-applied the PTFE today as I witnessed a worker escaping from the foraging area. The workers seem to be going ''crazy''. There are approximately 20 workers constantly in the foraging area in search for food. I have fed them 3 crickets. 1 which was alive. All of them have been disassembled and taken to the nest. The larvae, which previously were eggs are growing day by day. The pupae, which were larvae several days ago are beginning to darken. There have only been 3 deaths as of now. I suspect that they died of old age. Tunnel/chamber expansion is being carried through. There are 2 new chambers with several tunnels heading down, which I suspect will lead to new chambers. I have seen 3 of the 6 queens. They seem to be much more robust in appearance now and much calmer. This concludes for today. Thanks for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
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Post by Blem12 on May 22, 2011 7:15:26 GMT
Good morning, Here's an update: I have to say that this colony is in full swing! I, excitedly watched 5 newly born workers in the chambers yesterday. This colony has produced two male alates. The chambers are full of brood in various stages. I have spotted 3 queens in one chamber, 2 queens in the other and the last one remains unknown for now. Their gasters seems very large meaning that they are either well fed or ready to lay once more. The foraging tank has about 30 workers foraging constantly. I read how a member on here fed their colony earthworms, so I decided to try it too. Guess what......... They loved them! I have since given them 4 earthworms which were all taken graciously. If I see that this colony produces male and female alates in vast/large numbers I will place the set up near my window (which is open) in summer for the alates to take flight out. I am surprised how well this colony has done since I had captured them. This concludes for today. Thank you for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
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Post by Blem12 on May 29, 2011 8:04:39 GMT
Good morning, Here's an update: The myrmica rubra colony are doing well. They take in whatever is fed to them. Crickets, Meal worms, Earthworms, Flies, Mosquitoes and Spiders. Many of the worker's gasters are full due to them having been fed quite a large amount of honey water. This colony seems to know that summer is approaching as the queens have laid 4 new clumps of eggs and I have witnessed 5 male alates/drones. I have had to put the lid back on top in the foraging tank as I saw a male alate on the floor yesterday, something which my mother does not like. Escapees. If the colony produces enough female and male alates I will move the set up, when it is the right time, near the window, taking of the lid and enabling the alates to fly but of course without any worker ants escaping to the PTFE. Thank you for reading. Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
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Post by Blem12 on Jun 15, 2011 5:44:07 GMT
Good morning, There are good news and bad news. The good news is that the Myrmica rubra queens are laying eggs like mad (I would say a total of 100 - 150) and there are many larvae (I would say about 50-80). They eat whatever I put in, be it earthworms, meal worms, spiders etc.... Their tunnels can now be visibly seen throughout the whole Worm World which connected to small chambers. Their tunnels have also expanded to the bottom of the Worm World. The bad news is that there has been a death toll of 40 workers! I sometimes witness small fights between 2 or 3 ants. Is this normal? I would just like to add that I have changed their foraging tank due to mold growing on the surface and it smelling quite bad. The new foraging tank is plaster based which on top is covered with sand and small plastic plants/branches have been added to make it look more natural. I know that the plaster will grow mold eventually but I have done 3 bases of these for the foraging tank so that when one is very moldy I can just exchange it for another base. Thanks for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
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Post by Blem12 on Jun 25, 2011 8:28:14 GMT
Good morning, Here's an update: The Myrmica rubra colony is doing very well. There have only been 2-5 deaths since my last update. It seems that all the ''old'' workers are being replaced by newly eclosed ones. I can see that most of the workers in this colony are now light orange meaning that they have eclosed recently. I have spotted two of the six queens. I must say that I was very pleased to see the largeness of their gasters meaning that they are being well fed or are ready to lay another batch of eggs. My meal worm colony (which were tiny meal worms) have know grown much more so I am starting to feed more meal worms to my ant colony which they seem to enjoy very much. Also, to my surprise I found a rogue Lasius niger workers in their foraging tank. The worker must have been from outside as my Lasius niger workers are not their top size yet. I got the worker immediately and gently placed her outside. I was initially thinking, why not let her be in the foraging tank as she will not be able to cause any real harm but then thought that if she got away outside she might entice the colony of Lasius niger outisde to visit the Myrmica rubra's foraging tank which I thought would not be a good idea due to the fact that a ''war'' could occur. I hope that you have enjoyed reading. Thanks, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
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Post by Blem12 on Jul 9, 2011 9:15:37 GMT
Good morning, I have quite recently arrived from Spain. I have checked all of my ants colonies and they seem to be fine. Here's an update: The Myrmica rubra seem to be doing extremely well despite my absence. They have laid a new batch of eggs and more nest expansion has occurred. I have just fed them 3 meal worms and 1 cricket followed by Banana flavoured Ant Jelly all of which they took graciously. I have spotted 5 of the 6 queens which makes me happy as I now know that none of the queens have died but are actually doing great with dark red, plump gasters. Thanks for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
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Post by Blem12 on Aug 3, 2011 9:44:44 GMT
Good morning, The colony is still flourishing as there is a lot of brood present, mostly larvae and bare pupae. It is wonderful to see all the newly eclosed workers when taking off the cardboard shade. All food that is placed is always taken to my delight. It seems that nest expansion has finally been held to a stop with most of the Worm World covered in chambers with interconnecting tunnels. I have noticed that some chambers are in the middle of the Worm World making it a bit difficult to see so I use a small torch to help me see what is exactly occurring. Thanks for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
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Post by Blem12 on Aug 17, 2011 10:32:01 GMT
Good morning, here is an update: The colony is still active and well. I was able to catch a glimpse of 2 of the queens in one chamber being tended by the workers. It seems that they have yet laid another batch of eggs as if you look closely you can see them in one of the chambers all safe and warm. The colony is still as hungry as ever as they still take all food that is placed in their foraging tank. Thanks, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
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Post by Blem12 on Sept 7, 2011 19:50:47 GMT
Hello, here's a quick update: This colony is still thriving and eating like there is no tomorrow. I am planning on hibernating this colony around late September or mid October as they would normally do in the wild. Today I fed them some of my mother's sponge cake which they very much enjoyed as many workers started swarming over the sweet and rich sponge cake crumbs. After a couple of minutes I noticed that the workers were taking small pieces into the nest through the plastic tubing which was very exciting and interesting to watch So overall, this colony is doing well and I hope it continues to do so in the future. Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
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Post by Blem12 on Sept 25, 2011 7:55:21 GMT
Good morning, here's an update: This colony continues to do well. Most foraging has ceased as the foraging tank only has around 1 - 2 workers foraging unlike in the previous weeks which it would of have had around 20+ workers foraging. They seem to be fairly active within their nest although you can easily see that they are beginning to slow down. There has not been any nest expansion. I am happy to say, that I found 4 of the queens with a bunch of workers huddled together within a chamber. Thanks for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
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Post by Blem12 on Oct 29, 2011 9:09:56 GMT
Good morning, Wow, it has been quite a while since I have updated this, sorry . I have been quite busy lately. Well, the colony continues to do well. They have now begun to hibernate as no workers can be seen in the foraging area and are only seen huddled together within their chambers. They also have quite a lot of brood which mainly consists of larvae which will most likely be hibernated until next year. No further nest expansion has occurred. I will also take this chance to clean out their foraging area. Thanks, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
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Post by Blem12 on Dec 18, 2011 8:33:37 GMT
Good morning, Sorry for the tardy update . This colony continues to do well in hibernation. No workers are seen foraging. All the queens, workers and brood are huddled together in separate chambers. A couple of days ago I placed a bit of Ant Jelly but none was taken. Thanks, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
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Post by Blem12 on Feb 23, 2012 20:19:06 GMT
Good evening, It is to my demise that this colony is no longer with me. Over the days and weeks, the worker population in the colony, was rapidly decreasing. To try and resolve this unexpected occurrence I tried several things such as; offering them a variety of food in great abundance, placing a new set up so that they could move into if they wished, look for any evident fungus or mites but to no avail. As each day passed more and more workers perished. This was quite heart breaking as nothing worked. Now, yesterday I found 3 dead queens in the foraging area. I tried telling myself that they were not the queens but of course, I knew they were indeed the queens. Upon arrival at my house I quickly checked the colony. I was prepared for the worst. My worst fears were confirmed, the remaining royalty had died. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that only a couple of workers remained. I disassembled the ant farm slowly and with care, and after a couple of minutes, I could clearly see that within those grand and complex chambers and tunnels they had created, only a couple lost-looking workers remained. I am quite disheartened as they were one of my favourite colonies and they were the easiest to observe due to their large numbers and extensive foraging. With the death of this colony, I am left with an empty set up and sadness. Blem12.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Feb 23, 2012 23:37:39 GMT
Such sad events are always a devasting blow, but nothing even the best ant keeper can avoid This journal has now been locked.
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