Question 1

Would messor babrbarus like it?

Accepted Answer

While seed gathering harvester ants like Messor will sometimes drink Sunburst, they do not require it as a food source and can easily live without liquid sugar.

Question 2

The description specifies : "when using sunburst, do not use other sweetened foods such as sugar water, honey, ...." my question is why?

Accepted Answer

Sunburst Ant Nectar is a type of sugar, and is intended to be used as a replacement for sugar water, honey, fruit, syrups, and other forms of sugar commonly offered to ants in captivity. If the user continues to offer other, redundant forms of sugar, then the ants may be less hungry when offered Sunburst, resulting in wasted product.Additional Usage Notes:If you're ever having difficulty with receptivity to Sunburst, it is worth investigating other aspects of your setup, such as the colony health and environment.  The quickest way to confirm whether the issue is with your own captive colonies or with the product itself is by offering some Sunburst to wild colonies.  Wild colonies should recruit heavily to Sunburst Ant Nectar without hesitation.Possible reasons for refusal include, but are not limited to:> Species-specific preferences against sugary foods (such as leafcutter ants, some harvester ants, or other specialized ants);> colony has recently eaten or been offered another sugary food such as fruit, honey, syrups, or homemade sugar water (which are redundant);> dehydration or other environmental stresses such as suboptimal (esp. too cold) foraging temperature;> Sunburst has been exposed to air for too long outside the bottle and the sugar/water ratio has changed;> or contamination of the liquid in the bottle.When used with byFormica liquid feeders, Sunburst will remain viable for several hours at maximum receptivity.  Receptivity will slowly decrease over time, as ants consume the product (and therefore be less hungry) and/or as water evaporates from the liquid, thereby making the ratio of sugar to water suboptimal.  If left exposed to air, Sunburst will still be safe to eat (it will not spoil), but it will be less attractive than when fresh from the bottle.A single drop of Sunburst will evaporate very quickly into a syrup, and will remain attractive for a much shorter time compared to 1- to 4-ml of liquid contained in byFormica Galileo liquid feeders.For colonies in test tubes without a foraging area, the smallest smudge or droplet in the test tube should be sufficient every 3 to 5 days.  For small colonies with foraging areas, you may fill a single 1 ml byFormica liquid feeder with Sunburst and rotate it between multiple colonies so that no liquid is wasted and ants have intermittent access to the liquid.  Intermittent access is preferred over constant access if the user wishes to observe vigorous feeding activity, since most ant species will readily recruit a large number of foragers to the feeder when they have not had access for 48 to 72 hours.  A small colony will rarely be observed feeding if they have constant access to the liquid.  Aside from slower feeding activity, there is no problem with leaving liquid feeders filled with Sunburst for days or weeks at a time, as the ants continue to be attracted to the fluid, although Sunburst fresh from the bottle will always be most attractive.If you have any questions, or continue having trouble, please don't hesitate to reply here or to the byFormica Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/byFormica--Regards,Terry M.byFormica Ant Products

Pet Type	insect
Package Dimensions	13.49 x 6.91 x 4.6 cm; 82 g
Manufacturer reference	BF-SUNBURST-2OZ
Breed Recommendation	All Breed Sizes
Pet Life Stage	All Life Stages
Flavor	Honey
Item Form	Liquid
Size	59.15 ml (Pack of 1)
Number of Items	1
Quantity	1
Care Instructions	Keep product tightly closed at all times and store in a cool, dry place. Exposure to air can diminish product quality.
Storage Information	The shelf life of the unopened product is 2 years from the date of manufacture, and is printed on the bottle label as a BEST BY date. Once the bottle has been opened and used regularly, small bottles will stay fresh for about 3 months, while larger bottles will stay fresh for up to 6 months. Exposure to air is the primary means by which the product deteriorates. Keep the product tightly closed at all times to limit exposure to air. We recommend purchasing the smallest size bottle you can comfortably use within this time frame.
Batteries required	No
Batteries Included	No
Item Weight	82 g

Sunburst Ant Nectar - 60 mL Bottle Liquid Sugar Ant Food

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