# Queen Cells in Incubators



## Garry Forsythe (Dec 4, 2006)

Has anyone had success finishing queen cells in an incubator? I have a friend who does this, but he won't share much info.


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

I'd stop calling him a friend....


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## JBJ (Jan 27, 2005)

Works just fine, you will need a well controlled heat source, humidity, and a design that will not have hot spots or a temperature gradient. We built one that uses an aquarium heater in a water bath and a chicken egg incubator element and a small fan. I am going to try to find a better controller for the egg element so there is no variance from the set temp.
JBJ


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## tarheit (Mar 26, 2003)

It isn't tricky. Just need to maintain the right temperature and have reasonable humidity. I actually have two incubators. One is about the size of a 5 frame nuc heated by 2 light bulbs and a small water dish or sponge for humidity. The other is a old refrigerator with a ceramic heater, fan, and a large bowl full of water. I can routinely place just sealed queen cells in the incubator until they are ripe to place in mating nucs. If the weather (or timing) is off, I've even let them hatch and held them for up to 24 hours before introducing them into nucs (you do need to feed them.)

I use the Ranco-ETC digital controllers on mine since it can have a 1 degree set point and can control 120V. Some info on the 5 frame nuc version is here: http://www.honeyrunapiaries.com/16.32.0.0.1.0.phtml

-Tim


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## wayacoyote (Nov 3, 2003)

Sounds like a great idea for the "build It" section!
A local here also uses a home-made incubator. He allowed me to come by and photo it all. However, he's a retired electrician and spoke over my head. (I wonder if Tim is an electrician  

Waya


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## pkwilbur (Mar 20, 2004)

I use a chicken incubator for now also. Have let the queens hatch out in home made curler cages, and have done cells. Its quite fun the first time!!! And a great learning experience watching those queens emerge.

Used cut out queen cells also placed in incubator.


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

I use the in hive incubator bar that was posted here a couple of years ago. The bees seem to know what the temp and humidity should be. Works fine if you don't need 100's of queens.


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## Garry Forsythe (Dec 4, 2006)

Thanks for the info. I'm an electrician and I like to tinker with things, so I am making an incubator that will work with 24 vac. The lower voltage is just for safety. Using a Ranco digital thermostat and some resistance type heating strips. Gonna try and raise enough queens to re-queen all my colonies this fall.


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## sierrabees (Jul 7, 2006)

I use an old refrigerator with a chicken incubator heater and two accordian type chicken thermostadts and a backup light bulb. I used digital thermostadts for a while but we have anywhere from four to ten large power surges per year in this area and the digitals always fried on even the smallest of them. Surge protectors didn't help. Mostly I just move the cells well above a queen excluder in a strong hive and get them into nucs before the queens hatch out.


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

I heard if they hatch in the incubator, it is tough to get the bees to except a virgin that has harched already. Is this true?


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## JBJ (Jan 27, 2005)

It depends on: 
How long ago did they hatch?
What kind of care and feeding did they receive?
Nurse bees?

I try to avoid having them hatch in the incubator, however it can be done. The best place for them to hatch is in the mating nuc. The incubator is mostly to hold them until they are ready to hatch. The sooner they get proper care and attention from the proper bees the better.
JBJ


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## wayacoyote (Nov 3, 2003)

JBJ and others, when do you move them from the incubator to the mating nuc?

Waya


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## tarheit (Mar 26, 2003)

I try to place the cells in nucs the day before they are suppose to hatch.

-Tim


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## Finman (Nov 5, 2004)

.
"During the first 5 or 6 days of adult life, worker bees consume large amounts of pollen to obtain the protein and amino acids required to complete their growth and development. If young adult worker bees do not consume needed proteins,"
http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/bkCD/HBBiology/nutrition_supplements.htm

I have not seen that to be mentioned with hatched queen how much it needs protein feeding and when. 
I asked that from Australian bee researcher and he answered that he does not any who allow queens to hatch in cage or incubator. 
.


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## JBJ (Jan 27, 2005)

I think the suggested protocol is to have them hatch in their nucs; nobody is suggesting letting them hatch in the incubator. However in an emergency they can be briefly held if they are getting attention and food from young nurse bees. They need immediate and proper care upon hatching. If such an emergency arises and the cells hatch I would transfer them from the incubator to a queen bank in the "in hive incubator" or cages. I am not suggesting this is ideal, just an alternative for emergency situations. The quicker they are put into their natural environment the better.
JBJ


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## sierrabees (Jul 7, 2006)

I rarely will put a virgin queen into a nuc. The investment in bees to stock the nuc is wasted if they don't accept her, and a lot of checking to see if she is there increases the chance that you will lose her. If you are going to use an incubator keep track of the days. The queen cells are fragile from the time they are sealed until about day 10. At day ten they should have about two more days before they emerge and they are strong enough to withstand reasonable handling. That is the prefered time to introduce them. I always try to produce a lot more cells than I have nucs to put them in which allows me to cull anything that doesn't look good enough. I figure if I am using more than half of my queen cells I am not being selective enough.


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## wayacoyote (Nov 3, 2003)

Thanks, doug.
Thanks for the encouragement to cull cells, too. It is my intent to breed toward a darker queen. Why? I've heard good things from my friends regarding them. But to the point, I previously considered culling emerged queens before installing into mating nucs as a way of saving the hassle of breeding queens of lighter color only to cull later. But now I reconn your idea is preferable. Queens to be culled out could be sold, anyway. And by culling at capped-cell stage, I should only end up with not only darker queens but also those who had the healthiest looking cells.

Thanks, Waya


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