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Traffic jams 2

Posted: Thu May 17, 2018 10:20 pm
by Andyj
So my acros are cutting bramble and the new privet leave but there are hundreds that are basically doing nothing. They sit in the 20 mm pipe from the foraging area to the nest just yacking to each other and reading their newspapers. The ants carrying the leaves struggle to get past and sometimes just drop the leaves they have cut making even more congestion. Last night i added apple, and orange skin and within minutes the tube was clear and everything was on the move again.

So i have read that ants save their resources for particular tasks, so do you think perhaps all the lazy ones were just waiting for their cue to respond, which was something different to cut ?

Whatever traffic is flowing well again. :)

Re: Traffic jams 2

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 10:27 am
by Acromyrmexbob
Andy, how much of the nest tank is filled with fungus. Is it full? Or is there more space to expand. Normally when there are inactive ants its because there are enough leaves for the amount of fungus needing fed. And no space to expand. Maybe putting apple in moves them on because they will all feed directly from the apple.

Re: Traffic jams 2

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 10:44 am
by Andyj
Yea i thought that with the apple. There is loads of room to expand. It grows and declines all the time. But never fills more than a third of the space. Was thinking about putting the pods back. All stats are spot on but the fungus never seems stable.

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Re: Traffic jams 2

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 11:02 am
by Jackie62
Our Acros used to hang about in their tubes too (so funny how you described them Andy!). We could never work out what was going on with them...

Our Atta are quiet at the moment. I was wondering if they are not about cutting so much because the fungus gardens are now huge! I do think they are taking up a lot of nest space. Is this why they have slowed down cutting? As you say, apple is going very well and they are on this a lot of the time. They are also carrying it back the the nest in small pieces.

Re: Traffic jams 2

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 8:22 pm
by Acromyrmexbob
Andy, have you given them a handful of compost, damp?

Re: Traffic jams 2

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 8:27 pm
by Andyj
Yup 2 days ago but only a big table spoon full they have taken most to the nest and built 4 x 1 inch tall columns

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Re: Traffic jams 2

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 8:27 pm
by Andyj
Gonna give em some more i think

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