Mini magnifier

I just bought one of these ... all the way from China for £1.04 !

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Jewe...cB6ZRKV%2Bt7fR8NAFDTI%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

My eyesight isn't that great and I wear varifocals so I find it a bit difficult seeing what debris is on my inspection board ...

This little thing magnifies it 60x .. and with built in battery powered LED lights it illuminates the item as well ... you CAN see the legs on varroa mites ...

It even comes with a little case to keep it in ...at £1.04 ... can't go wrong !

Why do you need to see the legs on a varroa mite? Is this a means of positive identification? X2 or 3 should be adequate. Even at that I would be worried if you were driving, with eyesight that poor!

RAB

oliver90owner said:

Why do you need to see the legs on a varroa mite? Is this a means of positive identification? X2 or 3 should be adequate. Even at that I would be worried if you were driving, with eyesight that poor!

RAB

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I don't need to see the legs on varroa ... merely commenting that I COULD !!

I wear glasses all the time but with varifocals it's sometimes difficult to to focus clearly on small objects when you are looking vertically downwards through the part of the lenses that are graded more for distance viewing. I can pass the standard eye test for driving ..

Some of the mites coming off my hive are very small ... and whilst I'm certain what I am seeing are Varroa there's always the chance that they could also be Braula .. not sure that 2x or 3x would be sufficient for me, as a novice, to spot the difference and as you well know the legs are the main difference !

Phil

Braula in Hampshire? They seem these days to be only found in isolated places like Isle of Man and various scottish islands where Varroa not found yet. They are very sensitive to the acaricides and other treatments used to control Varroa and have more or less been wiped out on the English mainland

masterBK said:

Braula in Hampshire? They seem these days to be only found in isolated places like Isle of Man and various scottish islands where Varroa not found yet. They are very sensitive to the acaricides and other treatments used to control Varroa and have more or less been wiped out on the English mainland

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In that case I've no need to worry about them then ... one less thing !

Someone turned up at our association with one of those small magnifying glasses and could be useful to have a close look at the odd bug ect but if you are having difficulty spotting varroa or just interested in a closer look at the inspection tray one of those A4 page magnifying glasses works a treat.

Hi Pargyle, I think it's excellent - I've ordered 5 - that's one for me and the others for my nephews - healthier than chocolate Easter eggs.

It's nice to see things in a different perspective

Tom Bick said:

Someone turned up at our association with one of those small magnifying glasses and could be useful to have a close look at the odd bug ect but if you are having difficulty spotting varroa or just interested in a closer look at the inspection tray one of those A4 page magnifying glasses works a treat.

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Yep ... that's a good idea for the inspection tray ..

I just saw this little magnifier and thought .. 60x magnification and pocket sized .. and at just over a quid - perfect for the odd bit of tray debris that you can't really identify without taking it inside and shoving it under my 'proper' microscope. For what it does .. ideal and with a built in light as well ...

Children will love looking at bugs under it .. and if they bugger it up - at that price you aren't going to cry about it !

Took about ten days to arrive from China ... can't ask for more really.

can it be used to identify pollen?

notagain said:

can it be used to identify pollen?

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No, it can only make the pollen appear larger - you'll need a book to help you identify it.

notagain said:

can it be used to identify pollen?

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Not really .. you can get a better idea of what you are looking at but if you really want 'proper' pollen identification then you need to start looking at washing the grains and oil immersion to see the actual structure of the pollen grains ... and an appropriate microscope. Bit more too it than looking closely I'm afraid ...

ok

pargyle said:

Not really .. you can get a better idea of what you are looking at but if you really want 'proper' pollen identification then you need to start looking at washing the grains and oil immersion to see the actual structure of the pollen grains ... and an appropriate microscope. Bit more too it than looking closely I'm afraid ...

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For basic identification of pollen grains you need between X400 and X600 magnification. X1000 (oil immersion is not required except for very fine detail in the surface)

Edwardking said:

Hi Pargyle, I think it's excellent - I've ordered 5 - that's one for me and the others for my nephews - healthier than chocolate Easter eggs.

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Remember to remove the batteries.

Dishmop said:

Remember to remove the batteries.

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You're obviously feeling better !!

pargyle said:

You're obviously feeling better !!

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A bit but not disimilar to a battery that keeps going flat....

I have one - fun!

iawtkb said:

I have one - fun!

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Yes ... it's amazing how clear the magnification is on it ... I regularly use mine for a bit closer look at the debris on the inspection board ....I still can't believe they can sell them for that price ..

The ONLY problem I've found with the little microscope is it width of field is very small and its depth of focus is small. The effect of this is to make it a little difficult to find your target through the scope, even though you can see it with the naked eye, and then to get it in focus to identify say a mite attached to a small piece of wax. I find I end up with it focused for when the bottom of the scope is touching the monitoring board and bringing the target into focus involves varying the angle at which you view the item to bring different parts of it into focus.

I use a very small artist's paintbrush, slightly moistened with some spit, to pick up mites and move them to a monitoring area on the board, clear of debris (I may clear one of my "squares" to create this Cordon Sanitaire) where I check whether the mites are dead or alive and whether they are damaged - a way of checking whether my bees are exhibiting hygienic behaviour. If there are a high percentage of live mites, the bees may be just grooming them off themselves or their neighbours and if they're damaged, they may be aggressively going after the mite by cutting off body parts (legs or antennae) or denting/cutting the carapace.

All in all the mini scope was a bargain and is used on every monitoring board inspection.

CVB