Surprise! I now have a Camponotus sp. colony. The queen was obtained back at the S.I.N.N.E.R.S (social insects in the northeast regions) conference when my mother spotted the queen behind a fence. After sticking my hands through, I secured the queen in a test tube nest, where she lives. She will need a new nest soon though. After capture, I put the test tube in a Tupperware container if she tried to escape (Camponotus queens tend to pull at cotton blockers). She never attempted escape, as she was busy raising her first nanitics. Eventually, I noticed she had three cocoons in addition to multiple eggs and larvae, which was quite a surprise. A few weeks later, I saw a nanitic in the test tube. The following day, there were two nanitics, with a third arriving soon, as well as the several eggs and larvae.
Today I decided to feed this colony their first meal, consisting of a drop of raw honey, which ants can’t get enough of. As expected, they quickly started eating. Fast forward several hours, and they completely finished their food. Hopefully, the colony will survive and proliferate.
