In May of 2022, I found this Camponotus queen ant. After a couple of months, her first batch of eggs developed into adult ants, becoming my first Camponotus colony. At that point, the queen had three workers. Today, she currently has nine workers and a nice pile of larvae. The colony recently had a piece of watermelon, which they eagerly gorged themselves on.
While taking photos of this colony, I spotted two workers in trophallaxis. Because of this, I had a clearer view of the brood pile, so I quickly took photos before placing the setup back on a shelf. So far, despite their very slow growth rate, this colony has been nice to keep. As more workers develop, I will see how far I can take this colony.
