Skip to content

hivetop incubator exit hole

closeup view of corner of a hivetop incubator on top of a honey bee hive box. the incubator is a wide, shallow box about two inches tall, topped with a wood panel. in the picture, near the corner of the incubator is a hole about a half-inch in diameter, and several Osmia lignaria bees are gathered on the outside of the box near the hole.

An incubator that draws excess heat from a honey bee hive warms up managed Osmia lignaria bees so they can pollinate early-blooming fruit trees like cherries, apples, and almonds. A new study shows the hivetop incubators are effective, with little effect on the honey bee hive temps below. Shown here is a hivetop incubator atop a honey bee hive, with a small exit hole from which O. lignaria bees can be seen emerging.

Leave a Reply (Comments subject to review by site moderator and will not publish until approved.)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.