CO₂ adapter unit

01 · WHY THE FINE ADJUSTMENT

The margin is narrow on both sides

With too much gas the queen may be harmed or fail to recover; with too little, she is not immobilised and there is no way to work. The adapter carries a progressive knob and a visible ml/min scale to stay in between.

It is the same part fitted to the portable anaesthesia system 4.00, sold separately for anyone building the setup around a large cylinder instead of cartridges.

02 · WHAT ELSE YOU NEED

Cylinder and regulator go separately

On its own it does nothing: a fixed installation is completed with a CO₂ cylinder — 2 kg, for instance — and the external regulator 4.10, which drops the pressure before the adapter.

In exchange for that setup you gain autonomy: a large cylinder does not force you to break off mid-session to change a cartridge, which is what counts in a queen-rearing operation. It fixes to the bench with the magnetic mount and adhesive disc supplied, along with the silicone tubing.

03 · CO2 DOES MORE THAN SEDATE

It also brings laying forward

Carbon dioxide narcosis is reversible: the queen is immobilised and recovers once the gas is withdrawn. That is why it is the method used in instrumental insemination rather than cold or anything harsher.

And there is a second effect known in queen rearing for decades: CO₂ treatment brings the onset of laying forward. That is why it belongs to the insemination protocol and not only to the moment of sedation — an inseminated queen starts laying without ever having flown to mate.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

This is a component, not a system: without a cylinder and the 4.10 regulator there is no installation. If you want something self-contained, the 4.00 brings it all.