Queen Ant Caresheet - © Edu-Sci Ltd 2006-07

Care information

When you get your queen we she will be in a plastic tube.
Until the first batch of ants begin to hatch she will not feed.
When transferring your queen to the habitat be careful to disturb as little as possible, as under stressful conditions the queen may eat her own eggs. If you are keeping your colony in an gel based habitat then it is best to remove the lid of the tube and place the tube into the habitat allowing the colony to move into the gel when they are comfortable. If you are using a sand or soil based farm then it is best to make a funnel out of rolled paper, this can be inserted into the top of the ant farm and the colony gently tapped out of the tube, although if there is an attached feeding container they can be placed in there.

Food Types:

Small insects and bugs such as flies, crickets, moths, bees etc. (required for eggs and brood to develop)
Small pieces of fruit (make sure these are removed if they begin to go mouldy)
Honey
Sugar

General Care info:

Do NOT mix ants from other colonies as they will fight and could kill the queen.
Keep your ants out of direct sunlight.
Do NOT tap the sides of the ant farm as it will disturb the ants and can cause the nest to collapse.
If you look after your ants carefully you can expect the queen to live up to 10 years
Be patient, colonies take time to grow and after their first few months they should begin to enter a stage of exponential growth.

Using an Sand or Soil based Ant Habitat:

The ants can be tipped directly into the Ant Farm or if you are using the Ant world they should be placed into the attached feeding tub and will move up the tubing to the ant world themselves.
Any ant farm using soil must be kept damp, make sure if you add water that it is away from the main nest and that you don't flood it. Small amounts of water at a time allows it to be absorbed fully before adding more.
You can tell when more water needs to be added if the soil darkens.
The 1st batch of ants are always smaller than normal so you may need to put a piece of tape over the holes in the lid and prick them with a pin.

NOTE: Queen Ants and Colonies are NOT suitable for use in Gel Habitats

This caresheet has been written by Edu-Sci Ltd and should under no circumstances be copied in full or partially, re-printed, or used for any other purpose than as a caresheet for our Ants, unless a written agreement with the author is made.