PURPOSE: To omit an error in transplanting and wasteful culture time and efficiently carry out the subject operation by piercing a colony grown on the surface of a platy agar culture medium with a hollow transplanting needle, collecting the colony in the hollow cylinder and discharging the collected colony into a container filled with a liquid culture medium.

CONSTITUTION: A hollow transplanting needle 1 composed of a pipe-like member is clamped with a needle clamper 3, moved, stopped on the objective colony 7 in a source laboratory dish 5 and lowered thereon to pierce the transplanting needle 1 through a platy agar culture medium 9 and collect at least the colony 7 in the hollow cylinder of the transplanting needle 1. The transplanting needle 1 is then moved above an opening 19 of a container 17 filled with a liquid culture medium 15 using the needle clamper 3 and then lowered to dip the tip thereof in the liquid culture medium 15. Germ-free air is blown from a pipe port 13 at the top of a pad 11 in close contact with the upper part of the needle clamper 3 to discharge the collected colony 7 into the container 17. Thereby, the colony 7 is transplanted to the liquid culture medium 15.