# first experience with an incubator



## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

i incorporated the use of an incubator this year. the reasons were that i wanted to free up the cell building hive for subesquent grafts earlier than would be possible otherwise, i wanted to get the cells in cages to guard against an early virgin hatching and destroying her sister cells, i wanted to make it easier to get to the cells as needed for the selling and the placing of them when they got ripe, and i figured if the weather or time schedule didn't cooperate i could deal with introducing virgins if it came to that.

the first round went well and it appears that all 10 of 10 cells emerged. they were placed in the incubator 6 days after grafting. 6 of the cells were picked up by beekeepers 9 days after grafting and 2 of them were placed in splits here at home on that day. 

on that 9th day after grafting most if not all of the visible jelly was gone from the cups, the cells were beginning to noticably darken in color, but nothing discernible was visible with candling.

i kept the other 2 in the incubator for my own use and to observe. they appeared to get a little darker on the 10th day after grafting but still nothing much seen with candling. they were even darker by the morning of the 11th day and by then i could see the discernible shape of a queen in the cell with candling. one of them even moved a little bit while i was looking 

i decided to place them in nucs after work that day, but when i got home i found that both of the queens were just emerging from their cells. i took the virgins immediately to the nucs and introduced them apparantly without incident.

the second round of cells (16/20 'takes' this time) are now in the incubator and i have a better idea about what to expect with this and future rounds.


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## tpope (Mar 1, 2015)

Oh boy! It sounds like your efforts are paying off very well.

I got my portable incubator out today to allow it time to stabilize and adjust the temperature down from hatching bird eggs to hatching queen bees.

Did you check the relative humidity inside of yours?


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

tpope said:


> Did you check the relative humidity inside of yours?


many thanks tpope. i am not metering the humidity, but i am keeping a small container of water inside and have to refill it from time to time. i'll show it to you when you come on sunday.

i first tried an upside down quart jar lid, but i think it was to big for my small incubator. i didn't like the 'musty' smell i was getting when i opened the door.


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## Bkwoodsbees (Feb 8, 2014)

Peg, what kind of incubator are you using? Good job on the grafts! I will be getting my feet wet soon.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

this one:

http://www.reptipro.com/reptipro-6000-incubator.html

hard to beat for just $150. 

when the 2 shelves are stacked one on top of the other they perfectly hold the mann lake roller cages upright and in place.


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## Slow Drone (Apr 19, 2014)

Cool same incubator I've been eyeballing! Curious how many roller cages you think might be able to fit in to properly incubate? I have a three year old breeder I want to run as many queens as possible this year from her I believe this would work well for me. Anything you don't like about it?


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

Slow Drone said:


> how many roller cages you think might be able to fit in to properly incubate? Anything you don't like about it?


i think you could pack as many as 80 in there. i only have 20. they are spaced out with room for another in between each one. i have them sitting on the floor and there's enough room for a second level on top of them.

i have zero complaints. it actually keeps the temperature very steady. the window is nice for looking at the water container and spotting emerged virgins. 

for less than $10 i bought an indoor/outdoor thermometer at walmart. i put the sensor inside the incubator and the display sits on the bench. the temperature readout on the incubator goes up and down from 2 degrees below the set temp to 1 degree above it, but the indoor/outdoor shows the temp stays steady all the time, as did an alcohol thermometer that i had inside the incubator for awhile.

i feel better now that i've got a round off with it, no regrets. i haven't used it yet, but the cigarette lighter adapter that comes with it would make it handy for transporting cells with your vehicle.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

after going out and taking another look i see that the incubator is tall enough to easily accommodate three levels of cells.


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## Slow Drone (Apr 19, 2014)

Thanks squarepeg i'll order mine Monday. I thought about one of the digital thermometer and hygrometer set-ups did you consider something like that or do you think it to be advantageous? That way I could monitor temp and humidity better is my thinking.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Thank you very much for giving this report SquarePeg, but I'm still on the fence as to if it is worth it to me. I can just graft into Nicot cups and put in roller cages and let a queenless hive cell finisher be the incubator for me here. But at such a good seeming price, I should probably get one, even if I don't use it much now, I may in the future.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

Slow Drone said:


> That way I could monitor temp and humidity better is my thinking.


good idea slow drone. walmart had an indoor/outdoor version that measured both. i guess i was having a penny pinching moment. 

ray, i had pretty much decided to try one already but when i saw it marked it down to 150 i pulled the trigger.


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## kaizen (Mar 20, 2015)

square i'm assuming you gave away those unhatched cells? keepers don't pay for unhatched queens do they?


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Thanks for posting SP. While spending $170 shipped for it seems goofy at my level right now. It would be nice to be able to pull cells after capped and have them at home for selling/monitoring. It makes me nervous thinking one might get out before I show up to pull them. Of course how many guys do this without an incubator and seem to be just fine...?

The flip side is that we're planning on getting a place out in the country soon and could use it to hatch chicken eggs too... soooooooo. Maybe there's a dual purpose use.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Regarding noticing the royal jelly almost gone on day 9... I thought they pupated sometime around day 6 and after that consumed no more jelly?


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

kaizen said:


> square i'm assuming you gave away those unhatched cells? keepers don't pay for unhatched queens do they?


yes, i am selling the cells unhatched, for beekeepers to put into splits they make from their own bees. i've got just a couple more in the current batch that will be available for pick up on sunday morning, send pm for details.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

jwcarlson said:


> Regarding noticing the royal jelly almost gone on day 9... I thought they pupated sometime around day 6 and after that consumed no more jelly?


i don't know jwc, but that sounds about right. a cell would be suspect if it was still full of jelly at the top by the time it's supposed to be 'ripe', although looks could be deceiving if the jelly in the middle was used but still some around the wall of the cup.

any suspicious ones i'll keep in the incubator a little longer and monitor.


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## John Davis (Apr 29, 2014)

Sounds like a nice set up. I got the incukit table top kit from incubator warehouse and used an Omaha steaks cooler. First set of cells went through it last week came out great. It is a less expensive option but doesn't have the shelves. It also is 12 volt so delivering cells is much easier. Squarepeg, sending you a pm.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

squarepeg said:


> i don't know jwc, but that sounds about right. a cell would be suspect if it was still full of jelly at the top by the time it's supposed to be 'ripe', although looks could be deceiving if the jelly in the middle was used but still some around the wall of the cup.
> 
> any suspicious ones i'll keep in the incubator a little longer and monitor.


Maybe disregard that nonsense I spouted. I think I left off the ~3 days as an egg on whatever thing I saw. Looks like they consume jelly for 3-4 days between capping and pupating. So seeing limited jelly on day 9 makes perfect sense. 

I'll have to look at mine. Today is day 9, will be curious to see how much and if they have jelly left. The cell cups were completely full on Day 5 so hopefully that's a good sign.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

by that chart the last 3 days prior to emerging for the queen are the pupa stage, which corresponds to seeing the cells darken up in color, presumably from the cocoon.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Day 5:


Day 9:


Pics are of the same cells. Might be hard to tell in the pics but there's only a little royal jelly left in the day ninr pictures.


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