Digital C54 Queen Incubator (150 queen cells)

01 · WHY TAKE THEM OUT OF THE HIVE

Nurses freed and everything in one place

A queen completes her cycle in 16 days from the egg, and the maker states that from day 11 the cell can finish it in the incubator.

That changes the logistics of a rearing: cells from several rounds come together in one place, get checked in one go, and the finisher colony is free for the next batch.

02 · TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY

34 °C and 75 to 90 %

The brood nest sits at around 34.5 °C, and that is the figure to reproduce. The maker states 34 °C at 75 to 90 % humidity, and the display shows both readings.

The humidity is not decoration: a cell that dries out does not emerge well, and it is the parameter most often neglected when an incubator is improvised.

03 · THE BRICK TRICK

Thermal inertia against the swing

Opening the incubator every few minutes moves the temperature, and the cells feel the swing. The maker's own workshop answer: a brick near the heat source, which stores heat and damps the fluctuation.

And the room matters: if it is cold, condensation appears inside. Put it somewhere warm and steady, not in the store.

04 · CAPACITY AND SIZE

A hundred and fifty cells, and queens too

It holds up to 150 queen cells, with an interior of 49.2/45.8 × 32.5/28.2 cm and a 220 V supply.

And it has a second use that is often the main one: holding virgin or inseminated queens for a few days in an environment close to the nest, while the nuclei are made up.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It is for finishing cells and holding queens, not for rearing them from the graft: the cell starts in the hive.