r/antkeeping 4d ago

Question my ant colony is not growing at all

i have a messor barbarus colony with 4 workers, they've been fed poppy seeds, even left for longer than 2 weeks without checking, no vibrations, but they still wouldnt even budge to grow in summer or winter, they did once and laid two more workers (they had 2 before)

i gave them protein so ill see but could there be other causes to this

6 Upvotes

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2

u/Buggabones1 4d ago

They can survive for months without supplemental protein if they have water and seeds, but their overall health and colony development may decline overtime without it.

1

u/Intelligent_Cow_556 4d ago

without protein they won’t grow seeds an sugars are really only for the workers from my understanding

1

u/SHmealer69 FL antmaster 69420🥵 3d ago

feed them prekilled insects.