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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 27, 2013 8:29:01 GMT
You will find that the odd few workers die. Sometimes it might be their age, or just that they worked themselves to death because they were a bit weaker than others? As long as the brood continues to produce more than the workers being lost, then the colony will grow very fast. I have had several of the "7 sisters" colonies die out completely; but the one that remains (My Q2 colony) has far surpassed the colony I bought from Ant Store, and has around 2,000 ants in it, all raised from just 1 single queen. Never give up hope on ants until all is lost, as even a colony which may appear to be failing can often surprise you and thrive for years.
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djant
Nurse Ant
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Post by djant on Aug 31, 2013 2:02:42 GMT
You will find that the odd few workers die. Sometimes it might be their age, or just that they worked themselves to death because they were a bit weaker than others? As long as the brood continues to produce more than the workers being lost, then the colony will grow very fast. I have had several of the "7 sisters" colonies die out completely; but the one that remains (My Q2 colony) has far surpassed the colony I bought from Ant Store, and has around 2,000 ants in it, all raised from just 1 single queen. Never give up hope on ants until all is lost, as even a colony which may appear to be failing can often surprise you and thrive for years. Thanks! I just saw today that the queen was sitting on top of an egg pile of perhaps 30 eggs! Two more workers have also elated this week to make up for the losses, so overall I'd say this colony is doing fine, although I wish they'd move into the ytong (they've explored it enough and the past two weeks there's usually at least 1 worker inside, but the queen and the brood never move).
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 31, 2013 7:37:04 GMT
I know when I tried keeping Messor barbs in a plaster nest a few years back they didn't take well to it, but there have been a few of the members who have kept them in Ytong and had good sized colonies too. Finding ways to get ants to move to where you want them to go is not always easy, and sometimes I have resorted to gently tapping ants out of a test tube if they've refused to leave after a long period. Sometimes ant keepers prefer to let their ants do things themselves, but if the tube starts to become very dirty then for hygiene reasons alone I would force a move, as any mould or fungal growth may be detrimental to the health of the brood and the colony. This is where I differ from some other so called "ant advisers" who let their ants do whatever the ants choose to do, as from my experience ants don't always do what is best for them in the long run. Sorry for waffling on your journal DJant.
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djant
Nurse Ant
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Post by djant on Aug 31, 2013 12:31:29 GMT
No worries Wood Ant! I think I may do just that - the tube has become a bit grubby. I am a bit concerned about this colony though as overnight I lost two more workers, meaning I've gone down to about 13-14 in total. The temperature is comfortably over 20 degrees, they have access to water and food, and are not in direct sunlight.
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djant
Nurse Ant
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Post by djant on Sept 9, 2013 8:43:23 GMT
Monday 9th September 2013 Not too much to report on this colony. The worker count is now around 12, but I have not looked into the test tube for a week as the ants have moved into the tube surrounded by bin liner, so there could be more. I am beginning to wonder whether I should tap these ants out as they do not seem to want to move into the ytong at all. However, this may be because the colony is still small. They have not eaten much, and have ignored all insects or pieces of chicken, although last time I looked into the nest they were eating a large piece of ant bread so maybe the grass seeds are sustaining them.
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djant
Nurse Ant
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Post by djant on Sept 18, 2013 18:47:00 GMT
Wednesday 18th September 2013 I’m back at university now so sadly I won’t have the ants with me. They have been left a large stock of seeds and a full test tube of water. They seemed to be doing better than they have been lately and moved into the ytong a few days ago.
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djant
Nurse Ant
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Post by djant on Sept 30, 2013 15:09:11 GMT
Monday 30th September 2013 I came back to find that this colony isn’t doing well. There are only around 5 workers left with the queen, and the brood consists entirely of pupae. This is very strange to me as the ants are kept as a warm temperature, have plenty of water and they are making (and I presume eating ant bread). I hope that this colony can regain its strength before the winter.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 30, 2013 16:01:16 GMT
Fingers crossed that the colony will pick up again as Messor barbs are normally a tough species.
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djant
Nurse Ant
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Post by djant on Oct 18, 2013 0:02:07 GMT
Thursday 17th October 2013 These ants have been doing a bit better than last time. There are now 9 workers along with the queen, and there is still foraging activity. But it is getting colder so I expect them to soon rely upon their winter store.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 18, 2013 7:40:12 GMT
Thursday 17th October 2013 These ants have been doing a bit better than last time. There are now 9 workers along with the queen, and there is still foraging activity. But it is getting colder so I expect them to soon rely upon their winter store. Messor will continue to collect seeds all through the winter when kept indoors in a warm room. Foraging activity may slow down at night during the colder months, but if you have central heating on the workers will remain active during the daytime.
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djant
Nurse Ant
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Post by djant on Apr 7, 2014 0:25:01 GMT
Monday 7th April 2014 Sadly this colony died out over the winter. I returned from University before Christmas to find all of the workers dead in the ytong nest, and the queen curled up in a corner of the foraging box. I am unsure of the reason for this colony’s failure as I was not able to monitor them much during the final months, and it is only now that I have been able to update this journal.
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djant
Nurse Ant
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Post by djant on Apr 7, 2014 0:27:16 GMT
Monday 7th April 2014 These ants have now woken up, and have started to feed on both insect prey and honeywater. The 6 queens have laid a few more batches of eggs over the past couple of weeks, and the larvae that were kept over the winter are once again growing. I have attached the foraging area of my old Messor Barbarus colony with tubing to provide these ants extra foraging space. Hopefully this colony will pick up and do well this year after a nice rest!
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Post by deansie on Apr 7, 2014 5:39:58 GMT
Is this post in the wrong thread?
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Post by Jenny on Apr 7, 2014 6:19:16 GMT
Djant, I think you need to start a new journal for the above post saying which colony you are referring to, as your original Messors read as if they have come back from the dead? This journal can then be locked off.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Apr 7, 2014 6:55:33 GMT
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