mentor?

[Heather]

Hi, have had 2 microscopes for Xmas for bee disease recognition and pollen id, but am total microscope virgin.
Anyone in the West/East Sussex area (I live near Uckfield)who is au fait with this subject, I would love to pop over and have a lesson, if you would be so kind as to offer help.

 

[Jimmys Mum]

Ditto Heather. Feeling very spoilt today
I was wondering if there were any online tutorials to get me started but I've not had a chance to check yet. I was given the Yates study notes and Bob Maurers book too but you can't beat a proper hands on demo!
JM

 

[Heather]

Bump... anyone in my area??

 

[REDWOOD]

I taught how to do it with our bee inspector on a nosema testing evening, It's quite easy to do when you know how, there are plenty of videos on you tube and web sites
http://scientificbeekeeping.com/sick-bees-part-13-simple-microscopy-of-nosema/

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQcjh02sCd0"]nosema under the microscope - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Black Comb]

I started with a course at Stoneleigh.
Several more since.
Worked for me.

 

[Heather]

Many thanks for those links. Appreciated.

 

[blackie]

Hi guys this guy does lessons at the bee barn his name is patric k murfit his class is at Canterbury google bee-equipment hope this helps

 

[MuswellMetro]

:I think what normally happens is that you switch on a high poweredx400/x1000 laboratory microscope , turn the power to the light on to full , twiddle all the knobs . Then put a slide of something under under the 40x or 100x lens and all you see is just a bright light and you cannot see anything as you are blinded
, The Disecting or low power scoped works fine but the other, well it them stays in it box and is never used, the disceting scope only get put in the box a week later when you get bored with looking a bee eye and legs

so go out and buy a bunch of mixed flowers or use those you gave to your other half /or you were given

Why because you need something small and colorful like pollen to look with a high power scope, so let's take a flower's pollen from that bunch easily seen

this is just your first attempt so ignore all the alcohol washes, staining, water washes, drying etc in the microscope books ,we just need you to get used to the microscope

all you need do is smear the pollen onto a a clean slide in the middle , add one drop of water and smear it around into a mush spread over the slide middle then use a pair of tweezers to place a single cover slip over the pollen and press lightly.( you must have a cover slip on a higher power scope, it is designed for them (unless it a metalagist's Scope)

Turn your high power microscope on and set the dimmer to about one third of the max brightness

now actually focus the condenser, this is done by by turning the x4 lens on the turret into view, removing the eye peices then focus the condenser by moving the condenser up an down until the image of the light just fills the monocular tube ( or one binocular tube)

replace the eyepiece(s) and put the pollen slide on to the stage, use the stage nobs to move the yellow pollen over the condsener light,so the light shines through the pollen

look through ther eye piece and use the course focus to bring the colourfull pollen into focus, then the fine focus, if you see very very small grains of pollen you have got it, move the stge nobs until a number of the yellow pollen is inthe middle of the view (x40)

switch the turret to x10 and refocus ( you will problalbly only see a yellow blur before refocusing (x100)

switch the turret to x40 and refocus, remove the eyepices and refocus the condenser, add the eyepiece back and r focus and adjust the light source until the best vew is obtained (x400)

ignore the x100 lens until you go on a micrcoscope course and learn how to use oil immersion lenses

, prepare another flower slide with different pollen and the carefully removes the first slide and place in the second and refocus (you can also start again from scratch and refocus but why bother for now, just make it easy

Repeat with all the flower pollens, try to refocus some times from the beginning until you get used to the scope

Now when you have mastered that, you can go onto washing, staining and mounting but first you will need a Pollen Kits and some clear nail varnish

Alternatively , look at the gut of a bee, you need a cloth peg and a slide. smear the gut of the dead bee over the middle of the slide, place ONE coverslip on the smeared slide and use the cloths peg on you nose to stop the smell, the smell of dead bee guts makes me

 

[MuswellMetro]

My method of analysing pollen, others WILL DIFFER but this works for me

First, i use slides with a ground glass section so i can write on them what the pollen is ( labels come off over the years)

i collect the pollen and place with flowers in marked envelopes and keep dry until i use

You must have Hazel pollen for reference as it is used as a "size" compared to other pollen

If you just use water and pollen, then the pollen oil is seen on globules through the slide (Microscope module 9~ fail)

So you wash the pollen first with alcohol in a test tube ( dont try Gin, it doesn't work )


lets it settle in the tube, then pour off the alcohol leaving the pollen as sediment , add distilled water and shake, let it settle, repeat the water wash

using a plastic disposble pippet take the pollen sediment and put a drop onto a slide with ground glass writing edge, {add a small amount of Hazel pollen from Sizing stock made earlier} dry the slide on a slide dryer (mine is an empty inverted 200g bake bean tin, hole in side with nightlite under to heat the inverted base

add a small amount of your warm stained gell will a glass rod, let it melt ,add a cover slide with tweezer (one edge first) and take off the heater and let set

check it at X400 (try again if you get no airbubbles in the slide), seal the edges of the cover slip with clear nail varnish

when i have several i relook using x100 and oil on the slips and take a digital photo with a t mount instead of the eyepeice

NoW DrStitson is going to come along in his smart Car and tell me i do it all wrong

 

[Heather]

MM you are a star... all printed out ... off I go exploring. If in my area a drink or two of your choice waiting for you

 

[Black Comb]

I've just done mod 9 so I have stuff on my desktop that you may find useful.
If you pm me your email address I will send it over.
I will also send you a link for a place to buy SOME of the bits and pieces you will need at a reasonable price.

Also, as Mum said, Bob Maurers book is readable and up to date.

 

[Ruary]

:Turn your high power microscope on and set the dimmer to about one third of the max brightness

:now actually focus the condenser, this is done by by turning the x4 lens on the turret into view, removing the eye peices then focus the condenser by moving the condenser up an down until the image of the light just fills the monocular tube ( or one binocular tube)

This will not focus the condenser: the procedure is to focus on the slide using the coarse focus and the X4 objective.
Then remove the slide, hold a needle onto the light source don't touch the objective focus knob but move the the condenser until the needle is sharp. Then remove the eyepiece and adjust the condenser aperture until it is 7/8 open.

It is better when focussing the objective to move it so that it is as close to the slide as it will go (in most cases this is done by raising the stage, but in some cases it is by lowereing the objective head); that way you will know that the focus must be away from the slide.

Similarly when focussing the condenser move it as close to the slide and then the proper focus is away. This focus is normally very close to the position of the slide and can be easily be overshot.