I had been pairing a few females very lightly months ago, but I stopped breeding early in the season, and the females all looked to have reabsorbed. I never saw ovulation, color changes, bowl wrapping, nothing. So I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when one of the nicest females decided to lay eggs last night. This is only my second clutch ever, and because I didn't expect it, I never set up an incubator. I have one, but it's being used for quail at the moment, and the temperature isn't exactly... consistent. In hindsight, I really should have expected this, seeing as this happened with my first clutch too, but of course I was dumb and didn't. Hindsight is a powerful thing. Hopefully I learn this time...

I let the female maternally incubate last time because I was going on vacation for two weeks or so literally the morning after she laid eggs. However, since I wasn't there to help the humidity, six out of her seven eggs dried out. The seventh egg did hatch into a lovely, healthy lesser bee. Right now I'm letting this female sit on her eggs too, a healthy looking clutch of about seven eggs, and I've misted her tub and added some damp moss since I had humidity issues last time with a female maternally incubating. She's doing a good job and has stayed coiled, but now I'm wondering what on Earth I should do. I do not have the time or materials to build an incubator right this instant or anything. Should I get a hovabator? If so, how would I set it up for this? Would it be okay to let her incubate her eggs until next week so I can get some heat tape and build something for those eggs? Would that hurt the eggs? How should I best keep everything going okay until I take the eggs?

I am so sorry for the questions. I really should have been better prepared, especially after being caught by surprise on the last clutch as well. I want to do my best for a successful hatch rate, though. Hopefully I learn this time, but until next time, I have these eggs to deal with right now, so I'd best figure it out. Thanks in advance for the help.