New shack

The Camponotus rufipes like wood, so I gave them some wet toilet paper to chew. They started building a nest with it.

Almost there

I think it is just a matter of a few days now for the first Camponotus rufipes worker to be born. I will have to speed up her nest.

New temporary home

Finally, I was able to move my Camponotus rufipes to a new temporary home. Now that she has a bit of wood on top of her, she seems to be happier and less edgy.

Ready for a new home

My Camponotus rufipes has layed some eggs, and I think it is time to put her in a bigger place. I say this because  right now she is between two pieces of cardboard paper inside a small pot, and the cotton pieces in the pot have started to develop mold because I am not able to clean them properly (she is overly aggressive and very easily stressed, so I have avoided moving her so far).

Eggs :)

My Camponotus rufipes queen has finally layed eggs. They cannot be seen from these pictures, but she has a small clump of eggs with her. I am thinking about putting her in a setup with some wood. I will have to think about it.

Meanwhile, she is between two small slices of cardboard paper to mimic wood. It seems she is ok there, she chewed a bit of cardboard to make a small entrance hole and also to shape some "furniture" :D

Camponotus rufipes

I was in my mother's garden doing some gardening (!) for her and I kicked a piece of rotting branch which was still attached to one of the shrubs and noticed straight away something big scurrying in the grass. I went to look and saw it was a young queen (the very first queen I found in the wild by myself).

It had its wings off already, but I could not find any brood in the wood or on the floor. If there was any, It's gone. No workers either.

I put her in a small plastic pot and tried to feed her some insects, but she has not eaten anything so far.

I am leaving her alone for now and checking on her once a day. I hope she has been fertilized, but she has not layed any eggs so far either. She has water and a honey drop with her.