After what seems like a long wait things have started to look up.  The ant farms are all showing signs of good growth.  I was previously a little concerned about the L.niger, and the T. Caespitum, thankfully my fears have been unfounded.

The Tetramorium Caespitum

Today, I lifted the ant farm from its usual sitting place to take a look into a small chamber that I had noticed at the very bottom of the farm.  What I saw surprised me, it was fully of eggs in various stages of growth, and it also had over a dozen TC's tending the eggs.  This was on top of the number on the surface foraging, and the ones I could see in the tunnel leading to the chamber. Obviously this colony is doing really well, and Im chuffed because as they only came with 5 workers and the queen with I was a little bit worried that the colony might not last.  Thankfully thats not the case.  Whats intrigueing about these ants is their apparent hardiness.  They survive on very little in the way of water, in fact I havnt given them any for a long while.  The condensation that forms on the glass is the only source they have. They don't eat alot either, I put in one broken up dried meal worm a week, and that seems fine.  Today I have experimented by putting a drop of honey on a stick within the basin area.  I havn't seen even one ant in there, so hopefully this will tempt them to forage further.

The Lasius Niger

I really did worry about this colony.  It was a queen originally that I caught in the garden on the nuptial flight day.  She laid eggs, and I waited weeks. Eventually 2 workers hatched except that one died very quickly.  I made the mistake of giving them a large drop of honey to feed from, and one of the workers drowned in it.  I realised that I need to act quickly. I took the queen and remaining worker, and what I believed to be very tiny eggs, and put them straight into the farm area, then just covered the whole thing with a towel.  I left them to it.  After checking the farm today, there are 2 workers, the queen and quite a lot of eggs.  I put a few drops of whater into the farm, and covered it over again.  We shall see how this pans out.

The Myrmica Ruginodis

This was always a great colony, and is continueing to grow.  They have now moved back into the farm area from the tube.  I believe they may require a new basin area, but its difficult.  How do I get the individual ants in the basin into the farm area without letting the rest escape? I will have to ponder this a bit longer.

The Messor Barbarus

They are a great ant to watch when put into a plaster type nest. They forage in the basin area for the grass seed that I leave there. Currently there are 17 workers and lots of eggs.  I don't think I have had any further escapes since the last ones a few weeks ago.  Time will tell, and the number of ants is rising again.  Still, I wish I had found the escape hole a lot longer ago because there would have been between 25 and 30 by now.

Thats all for now.  I plan on getting another ant farm and colony soon.  What species do you think I should go with?

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