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Post by roberts611 on Feb 15, 2012 14:15:45 GMT
Hi everyone, I recently bought a Messor barbarus queen. She arrived in a test tube configuration on her own with no eggs or workers. I was wondering what I should do to help her start to produce brood/eggs? Should I introduce her into her nest on her own? The temp where I have her stored is around 22c in her test tube. I just would like some tips and help.
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Post by IceWhyte on Feb 15, 2012 15:37:26 GMT
I would say put her in a dark place and leave her alone. Maybe check her weekly to ensure she is ok. With my experiences of barbarus, I found that they stress easy. Within a couple of weeks she should start laying. Just keep her in the test tube until there are about 20 workers. If she's in the test tube its much easier to give her food and water. It is also easy to remove mouldy food or waste.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Feb 15, 2012 15:39:41 GMT
Hi roberts611 and welcome to the Ant Hill ;D Keeping her warm and in the dark is a good start, as now is the time my own Messor barb queens are beginning to lay eggs. I would be inclined to wait for her to move out of the test tube and into any nest set up you have, although these girls love to dig a claustral chamber in damp soil in which to settle down and lay their eggs from my own experience; and as I've been keeping this species for over 4 years now, I have gained a fair bit of knowledge on starting a colony from a new queen, as you will see from my journals.
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Post by roberts611 on Feb 15, 2012 18:14:33 GMT
Thanks guys for all the tips. I'll leave her alone for the next few weeks and I hope to see it work out. ;D
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Post by TenebrousNova on Feb 15, 2012 20:02:36 GMT
Welcome. From unfortunate experience, Messor queens will be quite calm at first but once they get stressed once, they will react frantically at every disturbance and probably eat their brood. Until she has about ten workers, its best to be very careful around her. I'm checking my newer queen weekly. Tomorrow, I'll have a look at her. She is in my cabinet with a heat mat and hopefully she has some first eggs. Good luck with your own queen. A heat mat seems to help, although an airing cupboard is reportedly a better option.
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Post by roberts611 on Feb 15, 2012 21:42:16 GMT
Really hope my queen doesn't die on me
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Post by Wood~Ant on Feb 16, 2012 8:27:55 GMT
It's not a bad idea to place a few seeds in with her, as young queens will often make "Ant Bread" even before they have any workers present in the colony.
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Post by Smudge on Feb 16, 2012 14:50:38 GMT
yeh this is a very good idea. I had success in the past by doing this as it will help nourish her and keep her stong until the first workers arrive, and will help her nourish her first workers so they will be stronger than what they would be without food, as the first lot do not live as long and are considerably smaller than the others.
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Post by roberts611 on Feb 16, 2012 17:10:30 GMT
Thanks for all the tips .. The day I received her I made sure she had enough water and seeds now I will just leave her alone for a few days and pray /hope for some good news
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Post by roberts611 on Feb 21, 2012 19:37:43 GMT
Still no luck with this queen she seems to have no interest in laying at all .. I've been gone for like 6 days she has been in a dark warm area and nothing at all.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Feb 21, 2012 20:05:35 GMT
I suggest moving her from the test tube and into some damp sandy soil mix in a plastic tank, or something similar such as a plastic storage box with a lid. Make air holes in the lid, and then leave her to dig a chamber. After a week or so in this kind of set up she should start to lay.
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Post by roberts611 on Feb 22, 2012 0:41:16 GMT
I did this Wood, she has her tunnel built, hope she lays?
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Post by roberts611 on Feb 22, 2012 11:06:10 GMT
She dug a tunnel all was fine and this morning She has completely vanished border line given up
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Post by IceWhyte on Feb 22, 2012 11:21:09 GMT
She dug a tunnel all was fine and this morning She has completely vanished border line given up Are you sure she hasn't just dug a hole and crawled in?
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Post by roberts611 on Feb 22, 2012 16:03:34 GMT
Yeah man your probably right just want this to work out, I need it for college.
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