Big-headed Ant Colony (Part 2)

[@ColoradoAnts]

Beautiful colony!

[@hugorodriguez7471]

ColoradoAnts

[@benedictpancho3156]

how do make your nest with that rocky stuff?

[@breezeshakespeare5208]

Benedict Pancho I think u mean sand if it is wet the ants can build

[@Joseph-of5eu]

cool I hope that your ants grow up and become big

[@studefishernikal]

how is it possible for a place that is a couple of centimeters away from the sun to have winter? and do the spiders the size of houses live in the sun?

[@subbedisbetter9820]

Can you keep the elates until they mate? And then continue on the farm, or make a completely new one??

[@nikcod9129]

Nice video dude

[@JordanDeanFilms]

+NIK cod Thanks :)

[@ColossalSwordFormAndTechnique]

So how does the big ones get born? Is it random from the queen?

[@gnorts]

If you have one of those acc nests, do you need air holes or does air seep into the nest

[@deathkingcheetah1337]

Gnorts Yes. If you use an Air type concrete such as Firebrick or AAC. Then cut out a few chambers in a block of the stuff. Cover it with Glass or Plastic. And leave the edges so air can get in

[@hittingwater4639]

this is kinda late but you dont have to hibernate pheidole

[@HrcWhitey]

I have a few colonies of these bad boys in my backyard. And can coax out dozens of soldier and workers by placing food near their entrance. But could you tell me when would be the best time to keep an eye out for the nuptial flights? I live in Aus btw.

[@JordanDeanFilms]

Here in Melbourne, they usually fly from February - March. So not far away!

[@HrcWhitey]

Cheers for the reply. Love your work. keep it up.

[@TheWilllife]

hey Jordan How much interest have you had from the public in Ant Farms and sourcing a Queen. I have wanted and been searching for anything Ant Farm related and there is almost nothing in Australia. I live in Brisbane and keen to join a group or blog you might know about, I would also love to create in Australia what the boys at AntsCanada have done. We have quite a few LARGE and AMAZING species of Ant here. Great Colony you have, looks like you're using aerated concrete for one? Have you had many issues cleaning and maintenance? Also, I know you were away buy did your colony produce any Kings or was it all queens? Thanks :)

[@JordanDeanFilms]

+Will leeson Hi Will, I've actually had a fair amount of people contacting me in regards to ant keeping, many asking how to obtain queens or for tips on raising their newly caught ones. The hobby must be growing here as I'm also selling queens more and more frequently now. I'm not sure if there is any one who offers ant farms for purchase here in Australia, I haven't really looked into it too much. I'm not a part of any ant keeping blogs, honestly, I just tend to keep to myself and learn the hobby through my own experiences. Yes, aerated concrete (YTONG) for the Iridomyrmex colony and plaster for this Pheidole one. No real issues to speak of. Although, sometimes mould can be a problem, but that's an issue you have to overcome with most nest designs. As long as the mould doesn't take over and I cycle my colonies out into fresh nests every now and then it's very manageable. This colony only produced female alates. I think it's fairly common for ant colonies to produce alates of either one sex or the other, as it prevents interbreeding within the colony.

[@kukimusic9710]

how do you prevent the ants from venturing out of the place i made for the out world??they come in my room

[@JordanDeanFilms]

Apply fluon, baby powder or vaseline, all around the upper inner edges of the outworld.

[@jimimardlin8697]

what pheidole sp are they pheidole pallidula?

[@mdrogun]

+jimi Mardlin I know they are not Pheidole pallidula. He does not know the sp. otherwise he would have it in the title. I doubt he will ever find the sp. of them because of how many Pheidole sp.'s there are.

[@JordanDeanFilms]

+jimi Mardlin I'm not sure of their species. Pheidole pallidula seems like a good guess but that species is not found here in Australia. Nolan is right, the Pheidole genus has quite a large list of species. Given I'm not very good at determining species I'm just going to leave them as undetermined for now.

[@JordanDeanFilms]

Yes, same genus, all Pheidole. All are the same species too.

[@JordanDeanFilms]

They're doing great. First month of spring here, so they're getting quite active again. Might do another update video soon.

[@maddmaxx5670]

Hey ants Australia! You should team up with ants Canada!

[@deathkingcheetah1337]

Mr. Splash Lol he is one of Ants Canada's staff

[@stephanieshellkeaton2959]

That would be cool

[@reverzed864]

Yes plz team up or meet up

[@scotty3738]

the Lates become the queen right???

[@deathkingcheetah1337]

Scotty no, the Elates fly off and start their own colonies

[@li_am1]

I LIVE IN CANADA :DDDDDDDD

[@samsamdacookie4393]

Cool