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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 8:21:30 GMT 1
I looked outside in the garden and, although I have lots of rocks and slabs to turn over, I can't find ants anywhere, let alone a nest. There's the odd ant mooching about on it's own, but barely any. The ground is just soaking wet from all the rain. What can I do? Do I really have to wait for them to fly? That will be ages away won't it, when it's really hot? What will a bunch of ants do kept in captivity without a queen? Is it even worth collecting them, or will they just walk about trying to find a way out?! I really don't want to purchase a queen - seems a bit unadventurous to order one! So yeah, how do I get a queen NOW?!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 8:31:29 GMT 1
You will only get the full benifits of the hobby if you have s queen. If you just get workers they will still dig tunnles and chambers but with no new brood then they will die out. If you are struggling to find a queen then your only other choice is to buy one.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 8:36:54 GMT 1
So, if I collected some workers, while I wait to find a Queen in the summer, what will their objective be, if they're not working for a Queen? Why will they dig tunnels? Will they work together, and if so, why, if they have no 'master' to serve?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 8:41:03 GMT 1
No only workers from the same colony as the queen would co-exist together. If you placed a queen from a different colony in the workers would kill her.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 8:46:57 GMT 1
What I mean is, once I find a Queen, I'll get rid of the lone workers, but just to occupy myself whilst I don't have a Queen, what would Queenless workers do if I just collected some and kept them in the meantime? Would they work together to find food and forage and make tunnels without a Queen, and if so, why?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 10:16:50 GMT 1
So, if I collected some workers, while I wait to find a Queen in the summer, what will their objective be, if they're not working for a Queen? Why will they dig tunnels? Will they work together, and if so, why, if they have no 'master' to serve? Ants don't serve the queen, they all serve each other. The queen just provides the next generation. If you want to be an ant keeper you will have to work on your patience.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 11:17:24 GMT 1
OK, I'll make my question as simple as possible and maybe someone can give me a straight-forward answer - If I keep some workers, without a queen, what will they do?
I don't want to buy a queen, I want to wait until they fly and mate and obtain one that way.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 11:25:07 GMT 1
The workers will be listless, because there is no colony to care for. You might get them to dig a little, but they will only really sit around. You are going to have to wait for the mating flights to come, which may be a while. After you do find a queen, you'll need to wait for her first eggs to become larvae, pupae, then workers. Patience is very necessary for this hobby.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 11:50:29 GMT 1
The workers will be listless, because there is no colony to care for. You might get them to dig a little, but they will only really sit around. You are going to have to wait for the mating flights to come, which may be a while. After you do find a queen, you'll need to wait for her first eggs to become larvae, pupae, then workers. Patience is very necessary for this hobby. Thanks for the answer. I don't mind waiting for her to produce workers and stuff. I just don't want to buy one who lives in a testube - I'd prefer to have a WILD one! know what I mean?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 14:48:44 GMT 1
Even if you catch a wild queen she will only feel secure in an enclosed space, like a test tube. My advice would be to buy a queen that already has workers.
I caught 3 L.niger queens last year and they are still not ready to leave their test tube. 1 of the queens doesn't even have any workers yet, only brood.
All queens start off wild. They cannot be bred in captivity.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 17:10:33 GMT 1
Even if you catch a wild queen she will only feel secure in an enclosed space, like a test tube. My advice would be to buy a queen that already has workers. I caught 3 L.niger queens last year and they are still not ready to leave their test tube. 1 of the queens doesn't even have any workers yet, only brood. All queens start off wild. They cannot be bred in captivity. Completely agree with what shovel has said.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 17:21:52 GMT 1
I do have a worker-only set up, they are in there for 2 weeks now, and they are still digging! It is the same worker-family I used to put in the gel ant farm, but I took out all of the gel and replaced it with sand. I find it amusing to see how the tunnels are being made.
I suggest you also try it and see what happens!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 17:30:15 GMT 1
Here you can see how the tunnels look my worker ants made! Attachments:
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 17:48:13 GMT 1
What species are they TJGKessels? Maybe david1982 could try with these until the flights
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 17:51:07 GMT 1
Lasius niger, I caught them in my backyard! There are +- 20 worker ants in there!
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