Queen Messor barbarus 2024 with breeding tube

Description

Here is your Queen, her name is Messor barbarus and she measures approximately 13mm.

Experience the foundation: Witness the birth of the first worker ants and develop your ant colony from its very beginning. The entire life cycle of an ant colony is highlighted with a little patience and minimal expense . No maintenance is required until the workers emerge, then only occasional feeding!

How does it work? Born in the spring of 2024 in the Hérault region of France, your Messor barbarus queen flew off to mate during a swarm in October. After shedding her wings, she is now preparing to found her colony. Also available with worker bees already present or as a complete starter kit here .

Success guaranteed: The emergence of the first worker bees is guaranteed: if the queen does not lay eggs, we will send a new queen with eggs or worker bees for a small fee to cover shipping costs. This guarantee is offered to all our customers this year! Provided that the recommended conditions are met, including a temperature of approximately 27°C at the end of winter (see our heating systems).

The rearing environment: The queen is kept in a test tube used by scientists. This tube provides living and humidity conditions similar to those ants seek in nature, with the added benefit of security. It allows you to raise the queen for several months, as long as it still contains water, and to reach a population of about ten workers. Afterward, you can move the colony to another tube, or to a real artificial ant farm, to continue its development and further enhance your observations.

Easy: The queen lives on her reserves until the birth of the workers, then feeds on seeds.

Also available with a particularly pronounced color, among the reddest 10%:

Included with your queen:
"The Perfect Ant Keeper's Guide" with over 10 PDF pages to learn about your ants and how to care for them!
+ Specific care sheet for successfully raising a queen
+ Simple 16cm rearing tube (refillable rearing tube optional)
Success rate of colony foundations in nature: approximately 1%
Success rate of colony foundations with a simple rearing tube: 70-80% and over 80% with a refillable tube!

What can I observe with my Messor barbarus queen?

The founding of a colony! First comes the laying of eggs, then the emergence of the first worker ants 1 to 2 months later, passing through the larval and pupal stages. Then, as the colony grows, the observations become more fascinating in this new, highly organized city.

The workers: The first are the smallest and black. Next, media workers appear, larger in size, and they perform foraging duties. Finally, around 100 workers, major workers appear, very massive, with a red head and powerful mandibles; they are built for transporting the heaviest seeds.
Life underground: The space in the tube corresponds to the ants' underground life; it can therefore meet the colony's needs for up to a year and 100 workers, with the required humidity.

Next: It is possible to transfer the colony obtained to an Artificial Ant Farm (even from the first worker ants) simply by connecting the tube to its linking system. The colony will then be able to develop more fully. If you wish to stop, we will take back your colony free of charge.

Later, in an Artificial Anthill… Messor minor in video as a similar example:

Feeding: Messor barbarus are harvester ants: they collect seeds and bring them back to the nest to create underground seed stores. The ants can then access these stores as needed. Each seed is chewed for about three days to become digestible, forming a paste known as "ant bread." In the tube or their artificial nest, they will build their stores and thus be able to live completely self-sufficiently. Until the worker ants emerge, the queen lives off her reserves without any additional food.

Here is the Antkeeper's Calendar:

A/ I order today, my package arrives 1 to 10 days later, weather permitting. Delivery of the healthy queen is guaranteed. I receive my downloadable Guide to the Perfect Ant Keeper.

B/ I leave my queen in her tube, without food or special care, just like in nature.

1. Recommended temperature in winter: around 12°C, in a quiet place with minimal light. Tip: use the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator or your cellar.
2. Recommended temperature from the end of February: 22 to 26°C for egg-laying. The top of a shelf can work. Ideally, I use a heating mat placed above the tube, monitored by a thermometer, or I opt for a heat lamp to achieve perfect conditions.

C/ The queen will lay eggs in the following days or weeks. The eggs will hatch into larvae, which will become pupae, and finally workers—the first of a great colony! It takes 1 to 2 months from egg to worker. The queen has stored enough reserves to feed the larvae all by herself.

D/ When the first worker ant emerges, I add a pinch of seeds to the tube. We recommend our mix of a dozen organic seeds, which will be the most suitable.

E/ I let my colony develop, and as long as there's moisture in the tube, I can enjoy observations at my leisure! At any time, I can connect the tube to an artificial ant farm. The colony will then be able to move to its new home and settle in comfortably.

Good to know: the queen lives alone in a small underground gallery, completely self-sufficient, and survives the winter this way. The rearing tube allows you to recreate these conditions. For your information, Messor minor is a similar species that does not require hibernation.

Note : It is not possible to guarantee 100% success of the colony starting from a single queen, but the average success rate is over 80%.

More info on Queen Messor barbarus:

Maintenance required: 0 minutes until March (the queen lives in total autonomy), 5 minutes per week afterwards.

Maximum autonomy: several weeks without maintenance in the tube thanks to the food and moisture reserves. After that, autonomy depends on the ant farm model: re-moisten the ant farm weekly or monthly depending on the model.

Queen lifespan: up to 15 years (we will take back the colony if you wish to part with it).

Want to save time? I'll take an existing colony with workers. To get an existing colony, click HERE.

I want to save time AND save 20% on Pro equipment, I choose a Starter Pack HERE .

 

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Our Ant Fourmiculture Charter
1. Approved breeding by Veterinary Services, conducted by a specialist with a certificate of competence,
2. Free "Perfect Ant Keeper's Guide" and health record provided,
3. Ants guaranteed parasite-free,
4. Queen guaranteed to be fertilized
, 5. No "boosting" (adding brood or external workers to sell colonies faster),
6. Guaranteed healthy delivery: full refund in case of queen loss (if delivered within 48 hours),
7. Shipping possible from -12°C to +40°C thanks to our optional insulated packaging,
8. Species present in France, non-invasive and not threatened,
9. Colony taken back if you wish to part with it (see our conditions)
.