Lambert van der Veen wrote:

>I know a small hobby beekeeper, who uses an incubator in his queen
>rearing operation. Is this a new idea or a proven practice? Is it safe
>to buy queen cells or queens raised by this method?

The use of electric incubators is common among queen breeders. I can't
really think of anything that might happen in an incubator that would create
a problem later, aside from outright killing them. 

Usually, if the queen is damaged at this point she won't hatch out. If the
temperature is the same as in a hive, as it should be, there should be no
ill effects. 

Poor queens can result from a variety of shoddy practices but an incubator
would be the least of my worries.

pb

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