I have assembled quite a variety of formicaries with which to experiment with captive colony founding using young queens.
I will have 8 vertical hybrid Hydrostone/soil glass sandwich setups. These employ Hydrostone formed around chambers. The chambers are filled with a clean sifted sand. I have noted that young queens of many species of prefer soil and some species are very difficult to get past the founding stage without soil. Soil-only formicaries present many drawbacks which I hope to avoid with the hybrid setup.
I have 20 small Hydrostone/plastic setups. These are ideal for most young queens. These consist of a 3"x3"x1-1/2" plastic box with a poured Hydrostone floor and the bottom half of a 60mm x 15mm petri dish inverted an set into the Hydrostone. The petri dish provides the claustral chamber and is removable to provide access. A 1/4" diameter hole drilled into the bottom of the petri dish along the outer edge provides an entrance to the chamber for the ants. I will place the queen inside the claustral chamber and plug the hole with cotton. I will also use this hole to occasionally offer food to the queen. This setup is also excellent for shipping. Once a worker force is available I will remove the cotton and allow the workers to forage in the box. When the time is right the colony can be transfered to a larger setup.
I have a number of slightly larger plastic boxes ready to set up in a similar manner if need be.
I aslo have some 16mm x 125mm test tubes.
I will have 8 vertical hybrid Hydrostone/soil glass sandwich setups. These employ Hydrostone formed around chambers. The chambers are filled with a clean sifted sand. I have noted that young queens of many species of prefer soil and some species are very difficult to get past the founding stage without soil. Soil-only formicaries present many drawbacks which I hope to avoid with the hybrid setup.
I have 20 small Hydrostone/plastic setups. These are ideal for most young queens. These consist of a 3"x3"x1-1/2" plastic box with a poured Hydrostone floor and the bottom half of a 60mm x 15mm petri dish inverted an set into the Hydrostone. The petri dish provides the claustral chamber and is removable to provide access. A 1/4" diameter hole drilled into the bottom of the petri dish along the outer edge provides an entrance to the chamber for the ants. I will place the queen inside the claustral chamber and plug the hole with cotton. I will also use this hole to occasionally offer food to the queen. This setup is also excellent for shipping. Once a worker force is available I will remove the cotton and allow the workers to forage in the box. When the time is right the colony can be transfered to a larger setup.
I have a number of slightly larger plastic boxes ready to set up in a similar manner if need be.
I aslo have some 16mm x 125mm test tubes.
