moving queen cells to an incubator

[match]

Ivey managed to acquire a small incubator and am keen to try raising some queen cells using it.

I've been struggling to find some detail on when to move the cells across though - some places say day 14 (i.e close to emerging) while others say day 8 (after capping). The former seems to be to get the bees to do as much work as possible/minimise risk of incubator failure etc - the latter to clear out the hive for the next round and minimise risk of early emergence etc.

In either case, people seem to say that any other time is bad due to queens being fragile.

I'm interested to know what people here do, especially if you have a good reason, or god/bad experiences. I'm especially interested if anyone is moving at other times! (Planned things badly and so neither 8 or 14 is ideal for me to get to them...)

 

[Plenty of honey]

Interesting question. Firstly I find no matter how careful I am I leave my cells in the finisher to at least day 8. From grafting.
Any tiny amount of undue movement at the stages before , during development can result in damage.
Secondly the temperature during the growth period should be sustained at all times, so moving cells when it’s cold needs to be avoided.
If you wait until at least day 8 or 9 after grafting, that queen is nearly starting to move and a slight dip in temp won’t affect much.
Little things like covering the cells away from any wind, transferring them in a box etc with a small hot water bottle can help too, even if it dosent keep them st around 34’C it’s better their at least warmer than the ambient temperature of an average daytime evening temperature.
Well that’s what I’ve found.

Video on this link of what I do.
https://youtu.be/hAnkCJ2soZc


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[B+.]

Ivey managed to acquire a small incubator and am keen to try raising some queen cells using it.

I've been struggling to find some detail on when to move the cells across though - some places say day 14 (i.e close to emerging) while others say day 8 (after capping). The former seems to be to get the bees to do as much work as possible/minimise risk of incubator failure etc - the latter to clear out the hive for the next round and minimise risk of early emergence etc.

In either case, people seem to say that any other time is bad due to queens being fragile.

I'm interested to know what people here do, especially if you have a good reason, or god/bad experiences. I'm especially interested if anyone is moving at other times! (Planned things badly and so neither 8 or 14 is ideal for me to get to them...)

Personally, I move cells to the incubator as soon as they are sealed because the colony is only keeping them warm after that point. Also, it allows me to mark the queen upon emergence with a numbered plastic disk and track her through her entire life. The incubator is set at 35degrees C (although 34.5C is fine) and 50% relative humidity (50-70% is fine). If you don't have automatic humidity control, a jar of water in the incubator will provide humidity.

I do use a portable incubator (see my avatar) to transport them so they are cushioned/kept warm during the journey.

 

[madasafish]

Ivey managed to acquire a small incubator and am keen to try raising some queen cells using it.

I've been struggling to find some detail on when to move the cells across though - some places say day 14 (i.e close to emerging) while others say day 8 (after capping). The former seems to be to get the bees to do as much work as possible/minimise risk of incubator failure etc - the latter to clear out the hive for the next round and minimise risk of early emergence etc.

In either case, people seem to say that any other time is bad due to queens being fragile.

I'm interested to know what people here do, especially if you have a good reason, or god/bad experiences. I'm especially interested if anyone is moving at other times! (Planned things badly and so neither 8 or 14 is ideal for me to get to them...)

I now do when cells capped.

Reason: occasional low temperatures/frosts during QR especially May /June (lost 5 out of 10 as a result).

No longer use QCs in min mating nucs in May/June for same reason)..

Handle carefully.. as I use nicot system, caging and moving is easy.. minimal disruption..

 

[SDM]

Day 8( as soon as capped) for me too. Its the 5 or 6 days after that they are their most fragile.

 

[match]

I now do when cells capped.

Reason: occasional low temperatures/frosts during QR especially May /June (lost 5 out of 10 as a result).

No longer use QCs in min mating nucs in May/June for same reason)..

I lost a batch of queens in May to cold weather after the bees moved off then and clustered - didn't realise until after they failed to emerge in apideas - hence my interest in playing with an incubator!

 

[GuyNir]

I was told the first ~3 days after capping are the most crucial, making sure the cells are handled gently. I did my first grafts 10 days ago. I moved those to the incubator couple days ago, as they started ‘creatively’ drawing comb around couple of them.