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Post by odesssus on Sept 14, 2010 11:30:07 GMT
I could be wrong and I am wrong the acid in lemon is citric acid and the acid ants spray is formic. I realy would try an ant in the juice befor you risk the whole colony.
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Post by tomorrownight on Sept 14, 2010 22:18:57 GMT
very good idea, hadn't thought about that. I'll do that. I'll do this with lemon juice and report back. and yes, ants make formic acid!
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Post by tomorrownight on Sept 25, 2010 16:16:50 GMT
Hey, I've started doing some experiments on my Lasius Niger Queens, I have three infected with Mites and so am trying different things.
So far I had an idea of putting a foreign worker in there to see if she would deal with her mite infestation (might work?) anyway the queen went crazy and killed the worker really quickly. I then put a cotton wool in with her soaked in lemon juice but that didn't seem to work. She doesn't have any workers to tend her, I wonder if I should try a queen without any workers? anyway, in conclusion, without direct application to mites by workers and simply the vapour alone, the lemon juice does not help.
I shall also try that bacterial yoghurt that people talk about and also bee mite spray. anything else anyone wants me to try? would be really great to get some positive results!!
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Post by odesssus on Sept 25, 2010 19:41:06 GMT
are these the same mites that where living on the outside of your ytong?
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Post by tomorrownight on Sept 25, 2010 23:21:07 GMT
I don't think so, they appear to have gone since I stopped keeping the ytong damp. In fact I'm pretty certain those ants were the seed husk ones (they cover certain shells of seeds but don't touch the ants) these other ones are clearly very harmful to the queen that has them and she definitely has them.
Interesting though, has anyone seen mites on any none Formicaene (?) ant? I've never seen mites on anything other than Lasius...
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Post by odesssus on Sept 26, 2010 11:38:24 GMT
Have you looked on you tube?. I took a quick look and found a few vids on ants and mites.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 26, 2010 14:00:54 GMT
Of course as you may know, lemon juice will change the scent of an ant due to it being a strong acid, so it might cause other ants within the colony to attack their sisters owing to them smelling wrong Perhaps the bee mite spray may be a better option if it's made for using on social insects, as this probably doesn't affect the scent pheromones
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Post by tomorrownight on Sept 26, 2010 18:24:01 GMT
Brilliant! I hadnt even thought about the scent thing. Shes a lone queen at the moment so its ok. But very good thinking!
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