How to catch a queen Ant?

[Kreigan]

I could have swore that I heard that if an ant community doesn't have a queen one of the ants proclaims itself queen and turns into one though it requires a mate(duh!) Guess I was wrong. But you still need to find one. Some species the queen does move but only during a mass migration. Be careful of the soldier ants. Depending on the species they can be vicious.

iheard somthing similiar but I also heard it wont lastl ong since the ant isnt really a queen and the colony will just die out. Also I dont think they have soldier ants or atleast not from what ive seen since they dont attack me they just scurry around the nest franticly while i try and dig it up

[Geniasis]

Ant colonies are a lot like trenches. So adopt WW1 strategies to counter it.

[Arthropoda Ingens]

I could have swore that I heard that if an ant community doesn't have a queen one of the ants proclaims itself queen and turns into one though it requires a mate(duh!) Guess I was wrong.

That works with some wasps, with naked mole rats and a number of very primitive ants (So primitive they still have fights over which one gets to be the queen) - not with yon bogstandard ant species, though.

[Arivada]

I think some people mentioned that you have to wait until spring. Could be wrong, I am by no means an expert.

That's just the advisable, that's when they are mating. I am as well far from an expert but if you dig deep enough(get a good shovel, heck get one of those military E-tools, sharper edges so easier to dig, main downside is it is only 26 inches) The queen will probably be pretty deep but she's down there.

[Enadail]

Yah, ants usually mate early spring.

[Arivada]

I could have swore that I heard that if an ant community doesn't have a queen one of the ants proclaims itself queen and turns into one though it requires a mate(duh!) Guess I was wrong.

That works with some wasps, with naked mole rats and a number of very primitive ants (So primitive they still have fights over which one gets to be the queen) - not with yon bogstandard ant species, though.

Well really Ants and Humans are the only ones that fight for stuff like that.

[Bei Song]

Try to lure her out with the sexiest drone you can find.

[Wamitoria]

Without a queen, don't ants all work together for the common good of the farm?

[Kreigan]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-10711280

Site doesnt help really all it talks about is how in edinburgh ants swarmed around and terrified people.

[Geniasis]

Try to lure her out with the sexiest drone you can find.

Correction, dress up as the sexiest drone you can find.

[Kreigan]

Without a queen, don't ants all work together for the common good of the farm?

yea but they eventually die off and the farm is no longer thriving.

[Wamitoria]

Without a queen, don't ants all work together for the common good of the farm?

yea but they eventually die off and the farm is no longer thriving.

^Proof that anarcho-syndicalism doesn't work.

[Kreigan]

Ant colonies are a lot like trenches. So adopt WW1 strategies to counter it.

Oh ok ill just go pull out the mustard gas and and atillery then bomb and gas them out, thanks.

[Arivada]

I think some people mentioned that you have to wait until spring. Could be wrong, I am by no means an expert.

That's just the advisable, that's when they are mating. I am as well far from an expert but if you dig deep enough(get a good shovel, heck get one of those military E-tools, sharper edges so easier to dig, main downside is it is only 26 inches) The queen will probably be pretty deep but she's down there.

Essentially as I said in this post, just keep digging. Heck if you are worried about the ants killing you just burn them(WARNING: FIRE HAZARD) but you'll find her if you keep digging.

[Arthropoda Ingens]

Anyway, I looked it up. For your particular species - Lasius Niger -, swarming generally occurs in late summer, typically june to august. So if they haven't done it yet, you still have a chance to catch freshly-mated queens in the next few days. If they're not done in the next two weeks, you ain't getting one this year, though.

It is not, however, advisable to dig out the nest (And whoever suggested it to you ought to be shot): Nevermind that you're destroying an already-established colony (Not really a big deal, Lasius Niger isn't exactly endangered... More a pest. But if you do like ants, destroying an established colony seems like an odd thing to do), but the queens are, apparently, really, really hard to find - it's not just you who has problems with it, it's everyone.

[Arivada]

Anyway, I looked it up. For your particular species - Lasius Niger -, swarming generally occurs in late summer, typically june to august. So if they haven't done it yet, you still have a chance to catch freshly-mated queens in the next few days. If they're not done in the next two weeks, you ain't getting one this year, though.

It is not, however, advisable to dig out the nest (And whoever suggested it to you ought to be shot): Nevermind that you're destroying an already-established colony (Not really a big deal, Lasius Niger isn't exactly endangered... More a pest. But if you do like ants, destroying an established colony seems like an odd thing to do), but the queens are, apparently, really, really hard to find - it's not just you who has problems with it, it's everyone.

Hey that is me you just told to get shot. Just kidding I don't mind but I really wasn't familiar with the species, I just used what I knew about other types of ants.

[Kreigan]

Anyway, I looked it up. For your particular species - Lasius Niger -, swarming generally occurs in late summer, typically june to august. So if they haven't done it yet, you still have a chance to catch freshly-mated queens in the next few days. If they're not done in the next two weeks, you ain't getting one this year, though.

It is not, however, advisable to dig out the nest (And whoever suggested it to you ought to be shot): Nevermind that you're destroying an already-established colony (Not really a big deal, Lasius Niger isn't exactly endangered... More a pest. But if you do like ants, destroying an established colony seems like an odd thing to do), but the queens are, apparently, really, really hard to find - it's not just you who has problems with it, it's everyone.

Do you know by chance how long they mate for like 1 whole day or like a certain amount of hours? And yeah I ddint really wanna dig it up I like ants but I thought that was the only way.

[Arivada]

Anyway, I looked it up. For your particular species - Lasius Niger -, swarming generally occurs in late summer, typically june to august. So if they haven't done it yet, you still have a chance to catch freshly-mated queens in the next few days. If they're not done in the next two weeks, you ain't getting one this year, though.

It is not, however, advisable to dig out the nest (And whoever suggested it to you ought to be shot): Nevermind that you're destroying an already-established colony (Not really a big deal, Lasius Niger isn't exactly endangered... More a pest. But if you do like ants, destroying an established colony seems like an odd thing to do), but the queens are, apparently, really, really hard to find - it's not just you who has problems with it, it's everyone.

But how can it be that hard to find(I sound ignorant don't I?) From what I have learned over time is that any ant queen is down there, you just got to keep looking.

[Enadail]

Do you know by chance how long they mate for like 1 whole day or like a certain amount of hours? And yeah I ddint really wanna dig it up I like ants but I thought that was the only way.

They mate for minutes (the literal mating). The ants will usually fly around for a few days until they mate though. Look for large rocks or jutting branches near organized colonies (assuming you know where they are) as that's where they often take off from. But from my experience, its not a big cloud of ants, more like mosquitoes in the middle of summer... you'll spot them around if you're looking for them, but its also pretty easy to overlook. What you might wanna look for is if you see ants in the air, look for patches of soft/loose dirt, as that's where the new queens will head.

[Geniasis]

Ant colonies are a lot like trenches. So adopt WW1 strategies to counter it.

Oh ok ill just go pull out the mustard gas and and atillery then bomb and gas them out, thanks.

It would solve that specific problem. Of course I assume that problems and solutions exist in a void and don't have any other effects on the rest of the world. That would be silly.

[Kreigan]

Anyway, I looked it up. For your particular species - Lasius Niger -, swarming generally occurs in late summer, typically june to august. So if they haven't done it yet, you still have a chance to catch freshly-mated queens in the next few days. If they're not done in the next two weeks, you ain't getting one this year, though.

It is not, however, advisable to dig out the nest (And whoever suggested it to you ought to be shot): Nevermind that you're destroying an already-established colony (Not really a big deal, Lasius Niger isn't exactly endangered... More a pest. But if you do like ants, destroying an established colony seems like an odd thing to do), but the queens are, apparently, really, really hard to find - it's not just you who has problems with it, it's everyone.

I think its a fairly new nest to so maybe they havent mated yet

[Farnhamia]

Ant colonies are a lot like trenches. So adopt WW1 strategies to counter it.

Oh ok ill just go pull out the mustard gas and and atillery then bomb and gas them out, thanks.

It would solve that specific problem. Of course I assume that problems and solutions exist in a void and don't have any other effects on the rest of the world. That would be silly.

No, no. Tanks. You have to invent tanks, then you can roll over their little myrmydon trenches and capture the queen. Fabulous.

[Arthropoda Ingens]

Do you know by chance how long they mate for like 1 whole day or like a certain amount of hours? And yeah I ddint really wanna dig it up I like ants but I thought that was the only way.

Usually at least two days in a row - on odd occasions (Depends on the climate), they may do so more than once a year.

But how can it be that hard to find(I sound ignorant don't I?) From what I have learned over time is that any ant queen is down there, you just got to keep looking.

Well, I'd have to guess here - I have never dug for one myself, the times I saw one was when the sidewalks were covered in them :-p But typically, if the nest's endangered, the queen tends to flee - so, that'd be a pretty obvious issue, nevermind the general complexity of a nest.

[Farnhamia]

Do you know by chance how long they mate for like 1 whole day or like a certain amount of hours? And yeah I ddint really wanna dig it up I like ants but I thought that was the only way.

Usually at least two days in a row - on odd occasions (Depends on the climate), they may do so more than once a year.

But how can it be that hard to find(I sound ignorant don't I?) From what I have learned over time is that any ant queen is down there, you just got to keep looking.

Well, I'd have to guess here - I have never dug for one myself, the times I saw one was when the sidewalks were covered in them :-p But typically, if the nest's endangered, the queen tends to flee - so, that'd be a pretty obvious issue, nevermind the general complexity of a nest.

Flooding, perhaps? Run a garden hose into the next for a couple of days, long enough for the water to penetrate to sanctum sanctorum and I bet the workers start hauling the larvae and queen out of there.

I still say, get a puppy.

[Jalkil]

Perhaps water her out? Throw big buckets of water on the place and then let them dig their queen out of there. Hopefully the will leave. Perhaps have a source of continuing water flowing into the ant nest? Just an idea.

Edit: Farnhamia got before me