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Post by Joona on Oct 23, 2013 13:16:52 GMT
There doing that them selves lol there moving it back now, I only did it so to trick them into thinking the garden is shrinking, but there smarter then that lol odd thing was they were adding leaves to the second garden that only had a few eggs in it, which still leads me to believe the garden is ok as it is at the moment, but when all the eggs in the main garden turn to larvae there gonna be in trouble. I noticed some bright orange media's in there last night too so the murdered ones are now starting to be slowly replaced.
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Post by adamjames20 on Oct 24, 2013 6:15:19 GMT
Sounds great mate , noticed in your blog that they are cutting leaves you added onto the garden, glad to hear it : )
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Post by Joona on Oct 25, 2013 16:25:02 GMT
Hey Adam, just thought I'd let you know that they have just started foraging and cut a leaf from the foraging area :-) The fungus no longer has a brown tint to it, its a nice bluey gray colour with little white spots of blooming fungus. I am soooooo happy its unreal. I know its still early days but I honestly didn't think they would last the week how bad things had got. Thank you so much for the help.
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Post by adamjames20 on Oct 28, 2013 7:24:22 GMT
Your welcome mate , am glad they are cutting again , They sure do test out our anxiety ha ha
Adam
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Post by Joona on Nov 3, 2013 18:46:47 GMT
Hey all, just thought I'd do a quick update on the colony. After the ups and downs of the fungus and general worker population I'm pleased to say that things are looking up again. The ants population has exploded the past few days the amount of newly hatched yellow workers grows every day, larvae and pupating ants are also being moved around as do the eggs being carried around the fungus. The fungus itself is now growing again and is taller now than it ever has been. The bottom still looks a reddish colour but the top looks great. The ants are once again cutting and adding all types of leaves. I was worried about the leaf types they take so I emailed Andy and he said orange peel, grapes and sprouts as well as the usual privet, rose and bramble. He also told me to rotate the food daily so they don't get bored of cutting the same food types, I was worried about pesticides on the food I gave them but he assured me it will not affect the ants and he doesn't even wash his food before giving it to them! I think I'll stick with washing what I give them but I'm not going to panic about it not being organic. I also went to my local garden centre to price up a tank to use as the foraging area and whilst I was there I noticed they sold jelly pots for reptiles and inverts so I brought a few and put one in there for them and they love it! There is a constant stream of ants walking to and from the pot which is always full of ants munching away and even taking chunks back to the other workers on the fungus. I made a new wooden incubator for the ants so there a bit easier to feed and keep an eye on. Its very basic in design and only took a few hours to make but it just looks so much nicer plus people who visit can actually see the ants with out straining there necks lol. Heres a few pics of them. The fungus The Queen (Lisa) Munch time at the jelly pot Worker getting stuck in to some privet The new set up The new set up 2 The new set up 3 See you soon Mark
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Post by James O'Neill on Nov 3, 2013 23:31:55 GMT
It's good to see that things are going well again. Long may it continue!
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Post by adamjames20 on Nov 4, 2013 8:45:40 GMT
Looking great mate, glad there doing well , not long until that sphere will be full and a second garden on the way : D
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Post by Joona on Nov 4, 2013 10:17:09 GMT
Thanks, if I can get a second garden before the end of the year ill be over the moon! The only thing is now there is a bit of a leaf back up as they cannot process them fast enough lol.
Edit:
They still had some bramble left and were still cutting it but I took it out and replaced the leaf source to sprouts which they have started cutting! They have never shown interest in it before but there actually taking it back, hope it doesn't make them too gassy lol.
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Post by Joona on Nov 7, 2013 18:46:45 GMT
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Post by Wood~Ant on Nov 8, 2013 0:01:39 GMT
I am surprised how calm and slow the workers are when tending to the fungus garden! Love the new video and pics Mark.
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Post by Joona on Nov 8, 2013 13:57:29 GMT
Thanks wood. As you can see from the last picture the fungus has shrunk from what it was and is being dumped all the time, its looks like soil when its dried out. They dump it at great rate too so hopefully it will look pretty equal soon I do not like it at the moment when its half red half grey.
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Post by Joona on Nov 30, 2013 10:30:34 GMT
Hey all, I have mixed concerns and wondered if I could get some advice.
Firstly the fungus fell over due to its size and I have noticed lots and lots of what look like eggs scattered around the bottom of the fungus is this normal? I believe they may be trophic eggs (the workers eggs the queen eats, I do not know how to spell it)
secondly my waste container has a small mite infestation! I have no Idea how as I clean everything that going in the set up and empty the waste every other day, but today I noticed the waste fungus was moving, I thought it was buried ants but they're mites : (. There very small and I have had a look in the other containers but can't see any more. I am going to steam sterilise the waste container then attach that as the food container then steam sterilise the current food one. Will this be enough or am I going to be fighting a loosing battle? I know that Atta set ups attract mites as the conditions are perfect for them, but I feel like I've messed up somewhere because I've obviously introduced them. So as of now all the leaves that enter the set up will be washed then frozen for 24 hours minimum before going in. Fingers crossed they go soon!
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Post by Wood~Ant on Nov 30, 2013 12:20:12 GMT
I think the fungus garden will be repaired in time, and as brood is kept in the fungus gardens possibly many of the eggs were laid by the queen as well as workers, so leave these for the colony to sort out.
As for mites, they can be a mixed blessing. Some mites act like little cleaners and eat dead ants and other decaying rubbish. Only if the mites infest the living ants do they become a threat to a healthy colony, although it is always best to limit their numbers by some means of safe pest control. It is hard to know what will get rid of mites without harming the ants, but I have heard that lemon juice is good for killing mites without causing harm to ants. You could also try a dilute mixture of salt and water, though this may confuse the scent trails, as would diluted vinegar; and these probably wouldn't stop the mites unless applied directly onto them.
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Post by Joona on Nov 30, 2013 14:35:48 GMT
Ill try dripping lemon juice in the waste container periodically, there were none in the leaf container that I could see but I put boiling water in them both and sterilised them both. This is my first experience with them so I'm a little gutted that I allowed this to happen to be honest.
Thanks for the advise wood : )
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Post by Joona on Dec 2, 2013 17:09:11 GMT
Well I cleaned the waste out today and I am glad to say it was mite free, I have been adding a drop of lemon juice as wood advised but it looks like I caught them in time. I've actually been keeping a close eye on the waste tub and its quite funny to watch them dump fungus and move it around, there are around 12 ants that deal with waste they pile the fungus in the corner of the tub then it moves to another corner, then they dig it for a while then put it back but even the way its dumped is organised lol like they each have OCD.
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