Queen 16, a lasius niger, was captured by me on 7th July after her nuptial flight. She is the first of my captured queens to get as far as producing a first worker which I spotted at bedtime yesterday.
This is quite a poor photo as I don't want to use the flash so it is the best I could do but I'm pleased anyway, this process has taken a lot longer than the expected 56 days, probably due to the colder weather we have been experiencing.
I've given this mini-colony a droplet of nectar and both the worker and queen were on it like a flash so I will not put them on a 3-day feeding cycle for a few weeks.
As my other queens were captured on the same day (it feels like a lot longer ago than it is), I imagine that they should hatch workers imminently.
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