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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2015 17:35:24 GMT
31st March 2015
Received I queen with 1 worker and 1 larvae. Placed open test tube nest in a small food container which I have escape-proofed by applying a 1cm border of PTFE on the top inside edge.
Provided honey water and placed container in a glass aquarium with a heat mat covered with a sheet of bubble-wrap placed under it.
Observations- Queen feeding worker. Queen moving around the cotton wool stopper (cws) at the water end occasionally but for the most part remains stationary. Worker moving around the cws carrying the larvae or remaining under the queen.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2015 11:18:43 GMT
4th April 2015
I'd read in Wood-Ant's journal that L.niger colonies can function with multiple queens and with that in mind I've decided to follow suit with 3 queens. I received the 2nd queen today however this queen came with 3 workers and several larvae so I decided to insert the 1st queen and her one larvae into the new colonies test tube and to destroy the lone worker she had. The 3 new workers immediately attacked the introduced queen, biting her legs and antennae and running about the test tube in a panicked state. For a while I was worried that they wouldn't accept her but after 10 minutes they calmed down and accepted her. The 2nd queen investigated what was going on with the new queen and then went back to the cws unconcerned.
I cut up a small frozen spider and placed it in the entrance to the test tube, the workers soon found it and set upon it with enthusiasm, after all they have 2 queens to feed!
Both queens are now being fed and appear to be very enthusiastic in receiving food. The workers look very busy, scurrying back and forth from the food to the queens however I can not tell if the larvae are being fed also as they're too small. I can only assume that they are or perhaps at this early stage only the queens feed them.
I shall order another queen and introduce it asap.
Honey water is now having whey protein added to it to increase it's nutritional benefit.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2015 14:57:44 GMT
4th April 2015 I'd read in Wood-Ant's journal that L.niger colonies can function with multiple queens and with that in mind I've decided to follow suit with 3 queens. It seems I've misinterpreted Wood Ants journal in keeping multiple L.niger queens together in the same colony however I shall leave things as they are and accept whatever the outcome of my mistake. Valuable lesson learned.
A few weeks ago I watched a documentary about how colonies of Honeydew ants(at least I think that's what they were) begin their colonies with multiple queens until eventually the workers single out the weaker queens one by one, rip them to pieces, and then feed them to the larvae. Nature in it's purest form, nothing goes to waste, the killed queens bodies being recycled back into the growth of the colony. Maybe I was hoping to observe this same behaviour, if L.niger actually do that. Anyway I didn't realise that they had to be sisters to joint-found a colony.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2015 9:58:06 GMT
6th April 2015
The introduced queen is still alive and is still at the cws with the other queen. Haven't observed any trouble in the test tube and the introduced queen isn't being attacked by the queen or the workers.
Fed the colony their first brown cricket yesterday which was cut into small pieces and placed inside the test tube. The 3 workers immediately set upon it and I have observed the queen eating also. However the introduced queen remains on the cws and hasn't shown any interest in the cricket although she is interacting with the workers and possibly being fed by them.
Have observed one of the workers walking upon the PTFE barrier and in fact, she made it onto the outside of the tub before making her way back to the test tube. My assumption is that due to the first generation workers small size they are somehow able to grip the barrier however I'm not overly concerned as I have already observed larger L.niger workers unable to do the same. So as an added precaution I have placed the test tube into another tub with a new and deeper application of PTFE and poured a small amount of water into the aquarium to create a moat thus isolating the tub.
The heat mat has been removed and the colony shall now remain at room temperature.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2015 18:08:17 GMT
9th April 2015
Can make out app. 6-8 larvae in the test tube and it appears as if both queens are attending to the brood along with the 3 workers.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2015 17:49:30 GMT
13th April 2015
Nothing new to report. Both queens still appear to be tending to the brood. A small frozen spider was introduced into the test tube however it was ignored and removed. They've probably had all the protein they need for the time being. Haven't observed the workers interested in the honey water I've provided however one worker has been seen crawling around on the outside edge of the feeding dish.
I have the ant colony kept in a darkened room and am trying to keep disturbances down to a minimum however difficult that may be for me as I'm new to ant keeping and am very eager every day to discover what the colony is up to!
No more entries to this journal shall now be made until I can see pupae. The larvae are very small and I can only just make them out with the naked eye.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2015 18:36:42 GMT
I have given this colony away so this journal is now closed.
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