Queen excluder success fails and population controll

[Ieatflys]

Hello everyone,
I thought i would start this thread ahead of my colonies development so i can build it into the setuo as they grow as well as for the knowlege benifit of others.

I was wondering how you all approach queen excluders and controlling your population? I have read some horror stories about queens being torn to peices through excluders when the colony decides the set if chambers she is in is no longer good enough. So how do you all approach this problem of knowing where the queen is for population control? Do you just remove a garden and sift through it for the queen or do you have a specific chamber that shese excluded from that you pre select for population control befor it is added onto the setup?

Please throw any idias or suggestions my way i know lca can grow rapidly especially atta.

Thank you for your time.

[Deansie26]

Worth a read, might answer your questions
http://www.leafcuttingants.com/www.leaf ... f=15&t=539

[Ieatflys]

A good read. I have decided that removing just workers or withholding substrate is not for me I would rather detatch my pods and freeze any fungus and workers inside.... however I half to figure what the best way is to know what pods the queen is not it..... any idias that wont incule a risk of her being torn to shreds?

[Deansie26]

If she isn't visible I don't believe there is any other way to be certain apart from breaking up the fungus, sure lots of soldier bites will make it lots of fun

[Ieatflys]

Is it possible to exclude her from a single chsmber or two or is it still too tempting for them to try and mover her into there?

[Deansie26]

Is it possible to exclude her from a single chsmber or two or is it still too tempting for them to try and mover her into there?

I've only heard it discussed from the point of keeping her in a chamber not excluding her from entering some, I imagine the same risk still applies buts it's an interesting angle. See what others have to say on it

[Acromyrmexbob]

Interesting points. Following on from Richards original thread. Difficult to give a definitive answer. My own opinion about Queen excluders is clearly made in the thread you have read. However in the US Leaf Cutters in public displays must have Queen Excluders fitted as part of their licence stipulations. In terms of population control, you are quite far away from this at present. I understand about thinking ahead and I applaud it. Determining the fungus garden your queen is in is not really diffiult. If you are housing the colony in a series of 'pods' (ref Sean) then you can clearly see the garden. The queen is always in the garden that is full of brood and heavily guarded. It is really obvious. However as an extra precaution when you decide which garden to freeze firstly put it in the refridgerator for 30 minutes and then tip it out. The ants will not move very much. You can quickly look for the queen and return her to the nest if she is there. But provided you have selected a fungus garden which is not full of eggs and larvae you should be fine. Also if you watch the colony, the workers are constantly carrying eggs away from the garden where the queen is to distribute them around the nest. You will intuitively know where the queen is. The fridge step is just a precaution.

[Ieatflys]

Fantastic thank you guys... i will definentally have an excluder between the nest and the forraging table as they most likely will not wsnt the queen there!! And its a good safety precaution. I did not know you could visually determine what garden she was in that is fantastic to hear. Thank you very much for your reply! Both of you. Will the low temperature of the fridge not harn the queen tho? I know they are very temp sensative.