A few thoughts to help buying a scope, microscopy for Bee keepers.
First the good news is that Bee keepers needs re microscopes are really very modest and 'exotic' lighting techniques, optics are just not needed for the vast majority of us. Just the basics done well will keep everyone going for a very long period of time.
Bee keepers interest main fall into these camps
Anatomy studies
Acaraine dissection
Nosema analysis
Pollen studies
For these there are two basic sorts of microscopes that are needed. These are called stereo and compound.
Stereo microscopes have two lenses near the object being studied and generally two eyepieces. They have low magnifications and large working distances (distance between object and lens). Typical magnifications are 10 to 45x for many models but for bee keepers then 10 to 20 is really all that is needed. Lighting is used above and below. These scopes are used for Acarine disection, preparation of samples and some anatomy studies.
Compound microscopes have far higher magnifications, up to about 1000x but for Bee keepers more is not always better and only rarely will 1000x be needed (and then it involves messing around with liquid 'oil' coupling). Don't be fooled by the numbers game with machine claiming 1200x or 1600x, this is neither necessary or 'real', it is simply marketing ******** at the level we are looking at. 400X will do for most things run dry. The working distance and depth of field on these microscopes is small and we use then lit from below through a sample. Bee keepers are interested in 'biological rather than metallurgical compound microscopes. These scopes are used for Nosema analysis, Pollen studies and some anatomy studies.
Now purchasing scopes. These can be new or second hand. New are expensive, second hand are not (in fact very cheap) but have other risks associated with then.
Lakeland microscopes and Brunel are good at the new stuff without spending many thousands. Brunel especially 'specialise' a bit in bees stuff and are always helpful on the phone. They are a one stop shop for all your needs, especially cover slips, glass slides, mounting media, stains etc. but you might pay a little more than 'ebay' for these bits. I use Brunel regularly and recommend them.
Re second hand stuff, this is where is gets fun (and why some of us have hundreds of scopes)
. So starting with compounds....
Now days we have the big four manufacturers (and then a pile making cheaper scopes). The big four are Leitz, Zeiss, Olympus and Nikon. Most machines from these are likely to be priced way above what we need as bee keepers (or can afford in many cases) but often are 'retired' from our work places, hospital and universities and will be available to get cheaply if you can. These machines cost more than other makes but are quality generally even machines 50 years old. In fact some of my old black Leitz machines are my favourite of all scopes.
Go back 30 years and the market was very different however with many UK manufacturers and USSR imports. Most of these don't exist now days but there are literally hundreds of these out there, loads of spares easily available and their current costs are peanuts for what they are. Names to look out for are Vickers Instruments, Baker, Watson, CTS (Cooke Troughton and Simms or Cooke), Gillett and Sibert (GS), Beck, Swift and Prior. Most are now gone. These were all quality makes and can easily hold their own against the big four above. It is relatively easy to buy new lenses for these from 99p upwards on Ebay with ease and 20 pounds gets you pretty much everything you might need except a few esoteric plans and APOs. It should be noted that optical design was nailed many years ago now and the only real advancement at this range is coating of glass to cut down reflections. So a modern day optic is little different from say a Vickers one from 1960s. They are quality optics in any ones book.
So for 20 to 100 pounds (and 30 to 35 is typically what we have sourced for local bee keepers at recently) you are able to get a solid metal university quality microscope. In fact many of these scopes spend their life in universities and have been professionally services and maintained.
I especially like
Watson Service, Bactil and Microsystem70s
Vickers M14, M15 and M70-, 72, 74s (M7x polarising)
Gillett and Sibert LabLynx or Series 10
CTS series 2000
Baker series IV
Beck model 47
but there are many others out there. If I had to pick some for Bee keepers they would be Watson Microsystem70s, Gillett and Sibert LabLynx, Series10 and Vickers M15s as slightly more modern but at high quality microscopes. Big savings can be had if you collect these devices in persons as P and P is high (they are heavy). In fact P and P can often be as much as the scope. Big savings can also be had if you go for the monocular or mirror versions as 'less desirable' options but often actually more useful. I actually remove binocular heads and replace with monocular heads when going to Bee keepers events! The beautiful thing about these old British microscopes is that they were made in decent numbers, so are readily available and spares are easy to find for just about everything quickly.
Lomo / Biolam machines were made in USSR and shipped over here in 60s / 70s and 80s in numbers. They are essentially copies of pre war Zeiss machines with whom they share an interesting history post 2nd world war. They go for peanuts but have amazing optics. However they need re lubrication as the tank grease they used (true) has now set hard. Properly lubricated (and an easy job) they also make excellent scopes. Do not underestimate their quality when serviced. Mechanicals are good like the UK makes above. This is a HUGE difference to the Aldi / Lidl specials which are often plastic stages or are light weight and not stable (very important).
Microscopes are all about optics and lighting and lenses are very important, so you need to know a little before purchase.
Lighting is made easier on modern machines with built in illumination (Halogen, Tungsten or LEDs) but that is just easier. There is nothing wrong with a mirror if you can shine a good light at it (man made or sunlight). In fact mirrors allow all sorts of oblique lighting tricks which are beneficial. So do not dismiss some of the older mirror scopes, they can be excellent and well above the needs of Bee keepers. Good and adequate quantity of light is essential to microscopy. There is something to be said for built in lighting just on the convenience side however.
Optics on compound microscopes come in 3 sections:
Condenser
Objective
Eyepiece
The condenser should be glass (as opposed to a disc of plastic with holes in it that the cheap ones have). This concentrates the light to a tight 'spot' needed for microscopy. Good starter ones will be labelled with probably Abbe and get better from there using terms like Achromatic. These together with lighting will allow either Kohler or critical illumination to be set up which are preferred options worth looking out for (again nice but again not essential for Bee keepers but a name to 'know').
Objectives are the lenses that sit on the rotating turret. They have a magnification and numerical aperture written on them amongst other information. The former is obvious but the latter is a measure of the light gathering capability of the optics (larger number the more light gathered). High NA optics are more expensive for the same magnification and again not essential here (but are always nice to have
). Typical magnifications are 4x, 10x, 20x, 40x and 100x oil. You only really need 4 (size of many turrets) so I recommend 4x, 10x, 20x, 40x but to be honest just 10 and 40 is really the minimum. 20x is a nice to have intermediate and 4x is a nice scanning size to move around the slide. 100x sound great but involves messing around with oil coupling needed at these high NAs (very messy) and best avoided for the time being. Easily added later date as are any missing objectives.
Now these objectives come in three flavours achromatic, plans and Fluorite / APO. Achromatic focus a couple a couple wavelengths of light at the same place (colours), They are sharp across 65% of the field of view (more blurry at edges). They are excellent and the workhorse and will satisfy most Bee keepers needs. Most microscopes use these types. Plans increase that flat field to nearer 100% but are more expensive. Fluorites and APO generally focus more than three colours to the same place and are are often plan also but are the most complex to make (and hence most expensive). There are some advantage to the latter two, like especially detailed photography but are not essential by any means and achromatics are by far the most common, great quality and silly cheap to buy.
Now eyepieces are often matched to the objectives so one set might be used with achromatics but 'more corrected' eyepieces may be beneficial with plans, APOs etc. It is probably not advised to mix makes either and they are all different. Magnifications range from about 4x to 25x however three sizes dominate. 6-8x, 10-12x and 15-16x. Most just use the 10x but often nice to have other sizes. The final bit you need to know about is the distance above the eyepiece your eye focuses at. If you are a spectacle wearer then this distance needs to be longer (and these eyepieces are often more money). The will called something like high eye point or have a symbols of a pair of spectacles on them.
The total magnification of the microscope will be combination of the objective x eyepiece. So a 10x eyepiece with a 40x objective will give 10x40=400x magnification.
Now the head which contains the eyepiece comes in three flavours, monocular, binocular and trinocular. Monoculars (one eyepiece) are great for everyone and are especially recommended for groups as our inter pupil distance is different for everyone (kids being especially small obviously). Binoculars (two eyepieces) are great for adults but need to be set for each adult individually so is the one used at home but not for groups or children. Trinocualrs (two eyepieces) are like binoculars but have another port to plug in a camera (but this can also be done easily down an eyepiece).
Everyone likes a photograph and with modern digital cameras these are easy to do, via a photo tube on a trinoicular head or just via the eyepiece but you may be surprised what can be achieved with a compact camera pointed down an eyepiece especially the high eye point spectacle wearer ones!
The stage which holds your microscope slide needs to be sturdy and a mechanical device to move it around is a nice to have but not essential but like most things can be updated later. The stage needs to make a firm platform and this is where the chap plastic children's microscopes fall down together with poor plastic optics and low lighting levels. Even some light weight metal ones are too 'bendy'.
The good news is dealers (like Brunel) and several good ones on Ebay sell these excellent second hand machines for peanuts and they are of amazing quality. Back in the day a Watson Micro system 70 could easily set you back 100 pounds in about 1969 / 70 and the same machine our local Bee keepers were paying 35 now in great condition and serviced. My Watson Micro system 70 Hilux was 430 in 1969! These were serious money back then, they were great machines back then and are great machines now, the difference is they are now affordable.
There are similar great makes in Europe (e.g. Meopta) / US (e.g. American Optical). Substitute as appropriate if you live in these areas
Re new then if you look at the ranges the likes of Brunel sell (good value end) then you pays your money..... the more you want on a scope the more it costs. Remember Bee keeper needs are modest so you don't have to go high end unless...I am perhaps not recommending the cheapest here in their range but you don't have to go to the most expensive either. 100 to 300 is a good area to look at. The big four above will be many thousands new so will have limited appeal here. They could charge 30,000 for a fully kitted out research machine today. The modern equivalent of my Watson Micro system 70 Hilux I paid 100 for.
Most of the affordable modern machines are made in Chinese and Indian factories now days. Quality can vary from junk to being made for Zeiss and top / best quality. Quality control is all important here which is where the likes of Brunel earn their cut. Nominally identical machines being sold on Ebay by non specialist may not be the bargain you think they are......or are the rejects of others. Motic however is a Japanese firm that also makes high quality value microscopes and is a name worth looking out for. The likes of Brunel and Lakeland sift out much of the rubbish for you and give great service. They have great ranges (mostly different) to suit all pockets and Mr Potter and his team at Brunel are especially friendly to deal with. They are the best one stop shop in the UK for all your microscope needs for those of us with limited budgets.
The machines in Lidl and Aldi are fun and easy to buy but when you see the image from them next to these other machines you will see what a significant difference there is. You can also do so much more with these other machines. There is a place for both but don't expect to do Acarine dissection on any of these compounds, for that you needs a:
Stereo microscopes are simpler devices but usually go for a little more than the compounds above but again not much. Most have two eyepieces to allow for that stereo image but do not confuse these with the binocular head on the compounds above. Some will also contain a photo port also. Lenses are fixed or zoom, so say a 5x, 10x and 20 or a zoom 10 to 45x. Fixed lenses are generally better quality. Zoom lenses are more money and more flexible. Bee keepers really only need 10x or 20x top. To be honest if a machine just has 10x that would be fine. Do NOT assume 45x will be better / more convenient etc. It will not!
Most of the makes above did many examples but there are especially a good number of old Priors floating around for good money. They can have VEY heavy bases however so remember what I said about collection to save money of you can. Unfortunate some of us are not in major population centres to take advantage of this.
Lighting is underneath or from above. A simple LED light or torch may well be all you need for these however. Some of the most basic new 10x stereo for kids are great for bee keepers, just not built like tanks the old machines were.
Don't forget you will also need some consumables like slides, cover slips, stains etc.....some good starter kits at Brunel, you don't need much to get going. Or the quality NOS on Ebay from quality UK makes long since gone.
Re bee keepers and Microscopes I recommend the following:
1. Microscopy, First Steps into a Secret World, Manchester Microscopical and Natural History Society, Winsby Roy [great basics pamphlet on microscopy]
2. Microscopy On A Shoestring, Owen Mayer, Northern Bee Books [more detail than above]
3. Pollen, it's Collection and Preparation for the Microscope, John White 2nd Edition
4. Practical Microscopy, Marston (Out of Print) [much bee related]
5. Microscopy For Bee keepers, Pete Jewel 69 Bee keeping In A Nutshell Northern Bee Books [good starter pamphlet]
6. Anatomy of the Honey Bee, Snodgrass [classic anatomy text]
7. Anatomy & Dissection Of The Honeybee, Dade [other classic anatomy text!]
if in doubt or have a Question, please ask or PM me. Always happy to talk about microscopes...and remember more magnification is not what you need. You need quality, don't be fooled by a number game and scopes claiming 1600x...for 100 pounds.
