• Balios@kbin.social
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    11 months ago

    For now the most important part will keeping the tube nest dark and not disturbing your queen too often. She will feed on her remaining wing muscle mass until the first workers hatched and provide her with food. I always liked just giving honey and insects (put them into hot water shortly, to avoid bringing mites into your farm). A good source to look into for insects all year around is pet stores who might carry some as food for lizards.

    You could also look into red, transparent foil. Based on the idea that ants can’t see red light, many people put them around the nest to be able to see inside while hoping to reduce the stress for the ants. I’m not sure what’s the current view on that idea, it has been a long time since I kept my own Lasius queen, back then people were torn, especially considering that most foil might not filter all the light correctly… I’d at least use it together with proper covering, if you want to try it out.