I wouldn't have thought AntsCanada's formicaria would be the most recommended. Anyhow yeah, difficult to get in Europe due to the insane shipping prices.

Well I'm under a lot of pressure right now with school, but I've been trying my best to come online every now and then. I still have a few ants left but I've been slowly giving them to 2 friends who've picked up the hobby.

I just approved a guest post from the 17th of February.

Taken from myantshop.com:
"This species is polygynous and as the colonies increase in size they will allow newly mated queens to enter the nest. Once the new queens have been fully accepted they will frequently move around at night between the different nest sites."

I just approved Bootless' post from the 14th of February, but you need to make an account in order to make posts.

I have gone through and approved your posts, so they should now show up. You do need to make an account though.

You have a username but not an account.

Well Manica rubida is certainly a wonderful species, as long as you take on Luke's advice.

I moved this to its own thread as there is no short answer for this. I think it's always better to let them hibernate as they would in the wild, as there are no negative effects of that. It also gives you a break! However, if you really want to continue watching their progress through the winter, I ...

I have a Manica rubida queen and worker and 2 massive larvae nearly in hibernation. I've been giving most of my ants away to a friend who's starting ant-keeping, but I think I'll hang on to these as I really like them and because their sting unnerves my newbie friend! I'll take them out next spring.

I rescued this colony from a patio project months ago, and they've grown immensely. They're going into hibernation, and then going to a friend in March. I think this must be the first one-post journal on the forum, sorry! My friend may join the forum and do this journal, in which case I'll include n...

This colony was given to a friend of mine who's new to ant-keeping, they may join the forum and continue the journal in the future, but for now, this journal is closed.

Have you dealt with the seller?

Which Starter Kit are you looking at? 0, 2 or 4? I'd definitely recommend Lasius niger.

Hogy-Bear wrote:I've never had any problems with mould before this so I don't really know what classifies as dangerous.

Your photo links were broken, you had an extra img tag each side of the links.

Yes, formicarium is the singular and formicaria is the plural. I don't imagine ants would particularly like or dislike pine cones, but it gives a nice natural look.

There are no vertical nests for sale, so I think Cursico has got you sorted.

Don't force a move. Let them decide when to move. If the mould becomes dangerous, they will know and will move the queen and brood. Keep the new test tube as dark as you can (if you aren't going to wrap it in tinfoil), and expose the other one to light. This is difficult to do in your situation. @ve...

AntsCanada's shipping to the UK is very expensive, so I'd recommend AntKit.

Great video, very entertaining ending! Although I think you can agree with Andavane's suggestion to keep the non-video stuff concise (so you wouldn't be waving your hand for so long, you poor soul!). Yeah, you don't need to open it up until way after spring. I saw someone on YouTube comment to keep ...

Completely agree with what Serafine said, but a good starting amount is probably the equivalent of a pea size.

I don't know of any antkeeping books apart from AntsCanada's, but I know of two very interesting books about ants. The Ants, and Journey to the Ants. I got Journey to the Ants from Santa last year. It's much more concise and cheaper than The Ants, which is for the more scientific.

Usually, if the workers haven't moved the brood out of the test tube, there any no dangerous substances in the test tube. They're pretty intelligent.

Cool, would have thought these would be £50+!

Wonderful to watch such a successful and beautiful colony.

0-15C is the ideal temperature. Don't feed ants honey, unless diluted. The best thing is sugar water (3 part water with 1 part sugar dissolved in it). It's also better, as you have workers, to attach a small outworld or place the test tube into a small outworld so you are not placing food directly i...

Great idea. Bees and ants do have a lot in common, as do beekeepers and antkeepers.

Sorry nobody was able to help you. What did you do?

Very good!

Very professional.