Morphometry procedures and standards

[gavin]

Thanks Ems! John (under his classical pseudonym) and Enid will probably also stop by here and be very pleased to see your comments. Perhaps Enid may take her time as not only is she putting up a couple of the speakers at the moment, she is also suffering computer trouble.

I'm guessing now, but do you have long dark wavy hair?

Great to hear that you enjoyed it - I'm very pleased that you thought it worthy of praise.

G.

[EmsE]

I'm guessing now, but do you have long dark wavy hair?
G.

Yes, that's probably me.

[gavin]

Then it was a pleasure to meet you!

We had something of a break in the weather between Friday night's snow and more this morning, something to be thankful for. It was quite a dump this morning and the thunder and lightning gave it something of a Caradhras feel for those who remember Lord of the Rings. It is on its way to Renfrewshire now, and I hope it loses strength before it gets too far west.

G.

[gavin]

Kitta - sorry that you couldn't make it, and I hope that you have enough stores in the pantry to see you through a long snow-bound spell! I'm not sure that I can get out today and I'm almost at sea level ... and it is still coming down. Jimbo offered to perform wing morphometry on left-over samples yesterday so if you would like that done for you that is one way. Alternatively you may like to do it yourself in which case help is on hand here. There were some useful hand-outs yesterday which perhaps Enid could send you. One of them, a table by Ruttner, is a very useful summary of the differences between races and I may scan that later and put it on the forum.

G.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Thanks Gavin. I'm glad to hear the course was a success - and sorry to have missed it. Yes, we're thoroughly snowed in - knee-deep - and the hives each have a pyramid of snow on top of them.

I was pleased to receive an email from Jim (Jimbo?) with a link to DrawWing, and to learn that I don't need a microscope - only a scanner (which I have) and some glass slides (which I'll find from somewhere) - so I'm keen to analyse the wings. I'll contact Enid for more information.

Kitta

[Jimbo]

Hi Mellifera Crofter,

If you need any information or help or just want your wings scanned for you just drop me an e-mail.

EmsE

I tried to send you a scan of your results today but the e-mail bounced. I have sent again so hope you get them. You may be glad to know your sample came up as 85% Amm. The best result so far!

Jimbo

[EmsE]

Hi Jimbo,

Thank you so much for that. I have to say I extremely pleasantly surprised by the results. I haven't received the e-mail so I'll pm you with it.

Ems

[gavin]

Hi Kitta

I think that I'm also snowed in now. I did manage to get the car out this evening but it was a *most* unwise thing to do and the snow has continued to come down since then. Yup, Jim is short for Jimbo

Jim is a most enthusiastic wing morphometrist and he volunteered to do the left-overs. If he's not careful he'll get landed with several jobs to do with discovering more about the nation's Amm stock. Also, we all know now that he is an excellent public speaker, despite professing timidity.

Yes, just a scanner will do the job. I use (when I get around to it) an HP slide scanner for which I need the wings in slide mounts - Jim uses a flat-bed scanner and lodges the wings between glass microscope slides. One thing to look out for is that DrawWing is fussy and requires image files with 2400x2400 dpi or more. You can also project from slides onto a wall and do it manually. BeeMorph is another programme, less fussy about the image but it is less automated than DrawWing and needs more work to collect the data. Also it doesn't seem to work with the most recent Excel/Windows combination.

Ems: That 85% result would be good enough for most bee breeders to use. Terry yesterday and also some other experts discussing this in the Private Area think that Amm bees usually occupy quite a wide area on the plots. Besides, most of the samples we took will not be pure as there will have been a chance for drifting. But I'd also check them for other traits too (brown to blackish, brown body hairs, thick-set appearance, longish hairs on the abdomen tip, lack of yellow/orange rings) as well as reasonable temper and productivity.

I was about to suggest that when you get your plot from Jim you might like to post it in the thread above, but I suspect that I have to fix something before people can post images again!

G.

[Jimbo]

Hi Kitta,

I agree with everything Gavin has said. I am currently working my way through the samples left at the course. I should have the results all completed and sent out by the end of the week. The results could also be used for a Scottish survey for Amm so if anybody wants their wing checked just e-mail me.

Ems,

A result of 85% is a good result and I would breed from that colony. I would tend to use it as the drone producer. What I suggest you do is find out what is near you ie other beekeepers and colonies. I would then try and get a sample to check their wings. From that result you will know how to plan your breeding programme to protect your 85% colony.

Jimbo