Instrumental insemination

[drumgerry]

Easier said than done Dark Bee I'm afraid. I've found a course which is running in the south of Scotland in 2014 and have booked a place - if anyone knows of a UK course running this summer I'm all ears. As to the equipment I think I'm on pretty safe ground with the Schley. This summer I'll not do too much - maybe just have a go at everting drones and collecting semen. And maybe have a go with some spare virgins (jeez that sounds really dodgy!). But I'm going to have to buy the kit while I can!

[Jon]

Gerry.
I am sure you can teach yourself and pick the brains of people who have more experience when necessary.
There are loads of videos about from Sue Cobey and the like.
A friend of mine made a rig and we had a couple of sessions with it last summer but the drones we had collected were mostly firing blanks.
We managed to anaesthetise a queen with CO2 and inseminate it it but it never started to lay after being introduced to bees in an apidea.
What you will need is a good supply of virgin queens to work with.
As always timing is crucial as there is an optimum time for inseminating the queens, something like 7-14 days from emergence.
Pete Little will have more knowledge than the rest of us posters combined - so pick his brains.

[drumgerry]

One thing I'm not absolutely clear on is the design of a drone flight cage to allow you to keep drones till they're mature enough and to allow them to defecate properly and hence minimise infection risk when collecting semen. I've seen footage of a box with fabric stretched tight over one side and split down the middle (the fabric that is) to allow you to reach inside and grab a drone. What I'm not sure about is how you keep attendant workers in the cage to look after them.

Otherwise I'll muddle through without great expectation of success. Just want to familiarise myself with the kit and gradually get more serious with it as time goes on.