The TL;DR is in the subject line.
The back story is as follows:
I am combating ants in my high-rise apartment unit. One piece of online advice was to vacuum regularly, and pay attention to edges of the floor. I'm considering taping up the vacuum bag opening so that I'm not tossing out a nearly empty bag every day (almost $10 each, and terrible for the environment).
I had initial concern that an ant might get out, so I also double bagged the vacuum bag. This is making it inconvenient to use, meaning that I'll vacuum less. Exactly the opposite of the online advice.
I think that the chances of an ant getting out is low, and even if escape was possible, it probably wouldn't be more than one or two. I can accept that, if they don't go start generating more ants.
I haven't found anything online about workers being able to transform into queens once they are foraging. What I have read is that it has to do with genetics and extra nutrition during the formative stages.
Is it safe to assume that foraging workers will not be able to turn into queens?
After note: It just occurred to me, if ants can chew through wood, then there's nothing to prevent them from chewing through a vacuum bag over the course of a day or more. They can even chew through the plastic bag in which the vacuum bag is sealed. Is this a valid concern, or is their ability to chew limited to wood?