A little patience goes a long way.

[Antkeeper]

A little patience goes a long way in ant keeping.

If there is one bit of advice I would say is very important in any keeping is this. I can't count how many times when I was young, starting out when I would dig out my ants, thinking they were dead or for myself to get bored waiting on them to expand. Only then for me to kill brood or indeed the Queen(s) by digging them out, even though the colony was fine! Now I'm a bit more wise, I know better.

For all newbies, both young and old, this is the single piece of best advice I can bestow on you. Have a little Patience! 

[TenebrousNova]

That's what happened to me when there was no sign of my P.pallidula for a few months. I dug down a few centimeters to find a very surprised queen and a large number of workers and brood.

[Antkeeper]

That is what happened to me once or twice... I would not have mind if the colony was deceased, but every time they where thriving more or less in the nest. All a learning curve, this ant keeping!