HIBERNATION
September 25, 2007
by: jovial_cynic
by: jovial_cynic
I wasn't sure if it was necessary to *force* my ants into hibernation or not, so I e-mailed the guy over at the ant nest to see what he thought about ant farms and hibernation:
Even if you keep your ants indoors you may well find that they will slow their activities down, and the queen may stop laying eggs; they seem to instinctively know when it is winter.
If you keep the ants in a tank then it should be alright for you to keep the ants outside during the winter, but keep it covered up with an old blanket or something similar, and you'll need to do it sooner rather than later, so that they can acclimatise to the cold weather. If you keep them in a slim line ant farm then it may be best to keep them in a shed or garage, again, covered up with a blanket.
So... it looks like keeping my ants indoors isn't going to disrupt their lifecycle too terribly. That's good news.
Even if you keep your ants indoors you may well find that they will slow their activities down, and the queen may stop laying eggs; they seem to instinctively know when it is winter.
If you keep the ants in a tank then it should be alright for you to keep the ants outside during the winter, but keep it covered up with an old blanket or something similar, and you'll need to do it sooner rather than later, so that they can acclimatise to the cold weather. If you keep them in a slim line ant farm then it may be best to keep them in a shed or garage, again, covered up with a blanket.
So... it looks like keeping my ants indoors isn't going to disrupt their lifecycle too terribly. That's good news.
