Queen Cell Incubator

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Do they require the same temperature then?
Same as Etton I use a Chinese egg incubator relitive humidity and 35c for finishing cells of or introducing them at day 14 to charged nucs or colonys I've made queenless.
I keep my cells in hair curlers.

I think my lad bought it for £30 I've tried to look for the same incubator but it's not for sale anymore.
I would recommend a Chinese make though they make the best egg incubators around bloody Chinese!?
 
Hi, I thought I had struck gold too with the 60v euro one, a scam. Got one just before Brexit for 199.00 Pounds from the English site Incubator shop. They can be hard to get, Sold out very frequently.
https://www.theincubatorshop.co.uk/products/details/rcom-bee-70-incubator.html

What are you thoughts on this unit?

Any good? I have a Brinsea Ova Easy 100. Its massive but not specifically designed for incubating cells.

This looks ideal but any feedback before I hit the trigger would be welcomed :D
 
What are you thoughts on this unit?

Any good? I have a Brinsea Ova Easy 100. Its massive but not specifically designed for incubating cells.

This looks ideal but any feedback before I hit the trigger would be welcomed :D
It's very nice but there are a few drawbacks, mainly the lack of space down the centre ( I use this area to store cages of emerged virgins. ) Apart from that it does a good job.
 
Yes, I picked up 2nd hand egg hatching machine for £30. Thoroughly disinfected.. keeps temp beautifully, and hatched many good queens..
Can you explain pls the advantages of using an incubator rather than letting virgin queens emerge in their roller cages in the colony?
I’ve been toying with whether to buy one. I don’t raise that many queens probably a dozen a year and currently leave them to emerge in the hive then transfer them to small Nucs for mating
Keen to learn more
Thanks
 
It's very nice but there are a few drawbacks, mainly the lack of space down the centre ( I use this area to store cages of emerged virgins. ) Apart from that it does a good job.
Pls see post 33, would appreciate your views. Plus any other experienced beekeepers too that have experience of using incubators vs leaving virgins to emerge in roller cages in the queen rearing colony
 
It's very nice but there are a few drawbacks, mainly the lack of space down the centre ( I use this area to store cages of emerged virgins. ) Apart from that it does a good job.

Thanks. How many cages can you get in taking into account the restricted internal space? I don't need loads of space but want something reliable for temperature and humidity.
 
Pls see post 33, would appreciate your views. Plus any other experienced beekeepers too that have experience of using incubators vs leaving virgins to emerge in roller cages in the queen rearing colony
It's easier to check (of course) when they have emerged, and then you can mark her, and use the virgin directly in an small colony
It frees up space in the finishing colony, if you want to do several graftings
And if you ask me, a lot of running virgins in the same space, in one colony, that's a risk. Accidents can and will happen, sooner or later.
And also the temperature and humidity is controlled in the incubator, in the colony not always that much, and that can change the emerging time
 
Pls see post 33, would appreciate your views. Plus any other experienced beekeepers too that have experience of using incubators vs leaving virgins to emerge in roller cages in the queen rearing colony
deleted
 
Weather in summer - variable. Easier to inspect in garage.
Otherwise open hive, avoid rain, take emerged Q and mark somewhere dry..(garage) Also feed Qs left in cell.

I mark all Qs when emerged - much easier.
 
Pls see post 33, would appreciate your views. Plus any other experienced beekeepers too that have experience of using incubators vs leaving virgins to emerge in roller cages in the queen rearing colony
The main advantage of transferring cells to an incubator I think is the ability to cycle more cells through the same building colonies, also taking them out once they're sealed avoids the risk of early emerging vigins trashing the other cells.
I have a little 12v incubator that'll plug into the lighter socket in my truck for transportation too.
 
Pls see post 33, would appreciate your views. Plus any other experienced beekeepers too that have experience of using incubators vs leaving virgins to emerge in roller cages in the queen rearing colony
The reasons have been posted above, I like the flexibility and some of mine go to local beekeepers so a quick phone call and straight out to their apiary.
I can honestly say that the humidity is not such a big deal, relative humidity seems to be quite sufficient. You can always put a little jar of water in the incubator if you are worried. I also had a gorgeous virgin emerge from a damaged cell. I could see the white of the pupa through a small tear in the cell and just popped it the Nicot cage, not expecting any success, imagine my surprise when I spotted her crawl out of her cell and what a beautiful specimen too.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top