Easy to use source of cheap CO2 for beginner

[SilentSkeptic]

Anyone know where I can get a cheap source of easy to use CO2 in Australia?

I am talking about something like this CO2 spray bottle that people use to clean cameras as seen here:

http://novice-beekeeper.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/carbon-dioxide-experiment.html

I've looked exhaustively online and can't find anything that comes close. The only thing I can find are CO2 bike pumps, but they don't allow you to freely expel the CO2 without being attached to a tyre.

I have attempted making my own CO2 with baking soda and vinegar but find this is too tricky to juggle while working with live insects.

I am attempting to see if I can subject a virgin Queen and drone( from different colonies of course) to CO2 in a flight cage and see if this will trigger natural mating.

This article seems to suggest that might be possible as it is known CO2 induces the growth of reproductive organs in drones and virgin Queens.

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/co2dosing.html

[SilentSkeptic]

There are heaps of interesting articles about this online. But it was this general article about Queens bees that originally got me thinking about this. Social insects ability to use the same 'hardware' to create different social casts by exposing there bodies to different conditions truly is fascinating.

http://www.wired.com/2015/09/royal-jelly-isnt-makes-queen-bee-queen-bee/

[chorrylan]

Check out your local homebrewing shop.
They will have CO2 bulbs like this: http://kegking.com.au/co2-cylinders/16gram-co2-charger-cartridge-bulb-threaded.html
and for your purposes you will probably want a regulator that you can adjust to provide a trickle-feed of gas into your flight cage.
eg  http://kegking.com.au/co2-cylinders/premium-regulated-co2-charger.html

[Miikeboyle]

You could possibly use a sodastream. I think they sell them from Kmart.

[BeeMaster2]

Are you trying to get the drone to mate with the queen by adding CO2?
The article is talking about using it so that they can artificially inseminated not naturally inseminated. Bees mate high in the air, not in small cages.
Jim

[Dallasbeek]

I thought CO2 worked like an anesthetic on bees. 

[iddee]

I had a local fire extinguisher company to install a regular faucet and hose on a co2 ext. and fill it.I just turned the valve for as much or as little as I wanted to let out.

[SilentSkeptic]

Thanks for advice.

I thought it wouldn't matter if they were not in the air. If the male senses the female is ready to mate I thought that instinct would override any 'dance in the air' they needed to perform. But maybe not. I know seadragons have failed to breed in captivity because the tanks simply aren't deep enough to compensate for their mating dance. It would be interesting to find out if it was possible though.

I was planning on trying this but have given up on keeping pets or bees. I just don't have the patience I am afraid.

[yantabulla]

I was planning on trying this but have given up on keeping pets or bees. I just don't have the patience I am afraid.

I think that's a good idea.

[SilentSkeptic]

Well it's easy to get overwhelmed by little things when money is an issue. I simply don't have the spare cash lying around to invest in a hive and bees, CO2 etc just for the sake of one experiment.

I saw you raise Queens on your FB page. Do you artificially inseminate them or allow them to naturally mate in the air? I am fascinated by the whole process. I have been looking for a suitable beekeeping course here in Australia so I can learn bee AI but maybe I am better to contact a beekeeper who does it and have them give me a private lesson.

I am looking to transfer this knowledge over to a species of ant.

[little john]

I thought it wouldn't matter if they were not in the air. If the male senses the female is ready to mate I thought that instinct would override any 'dance in the air' they needed to perform.

The virgin queen is not a passively receptive female, as with a canine b1tch on heat.

The virgin flies close to a DCA, then 'takes off' - zig-zagging across the sky with a comet tail of drones trying to catch up with her.  Eventually she slows down a little, thus allowing only the strongest of those drones to mate.  The vast majority are left far behind during the chase.  That kind of drone selection is absent in AI.

LJ

[SilentSkeptic]

Thanks for clarification. Seems I will forget about it then.