Eight overwintering colonies were studied in the Central part of Chile. The following features, wereobserved: nests larger than the annual ones, polygyny, no protandry; a large number of males, most ofthem with the abdomen as large as the queen's; disorder in the construction of the last floors. During the3 years of observation the weather was unusually mild and dry; all the nest sites were protected and withgood drainage. The importance of this type of colony as an individual advantage of the resourceexploitaüon and the stablishment of better conditions for the eusociality is discussed.