Messor barbarus queen no longer laying eggs
Hi all,
I collected a Messor barbarus queen last summer. She laid some eggs, produced one nanitic, and had some brood going before I put her into hibernation in mid-November.
I woke her up in mid-February by gradually increasing the temperature, but since then it seems she's reabsorbed her brood and hasn't laid anything new.
A bit of context on my setup:
- She's housed in a tube connected to a small Wakooshi ytong nest — she moved over to the ytong herself
- There's water in the tube and the ytong is kept reasonably moist
- I'm offering chia seeds as a food source
- A heating cable sits under one side of the nest, set to 25°C
- I check on her every three weeks to keep disturbance minimal
- I've recently started offering honey water on a cotton bud and have also tried a small amount of egg yolk
She looks healthy and her nanitic is still active, but I'm a bit concerned about the lack of new eggs. Is there anything else I can do to help get her going again?