Myfamily&otheranimals
New Bee
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2012
- Messages
- 22
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- West Wales
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 3
Hi,
I am attempting to practice dissection to expose the 1st thoracic trachea to look for evidence of acarine infestation.
My problem is 50 % of the time when removing the head I also remove the trachea leaving exposed only the flight muscles or torn trachea.
If I manage to remove the head leaving the trachea intact then I am usually able to remove the collar and expose the trachea successfully.
I have tried removing the head in various ways but cannot do it successfully consistently. Does anyone have any tips?
My usual method of attempting head removal is securing the bee onto a piece of cork with an acarine needle through the lower half of the thorax between the middle and hind legs and with the forceps catching the fore legs in the forceps as one blade of forceps goes under chin and the other blade across the top of the head and then twist the head off backwards. I'm just getting through so many bees with so many failed attempts and it's so frustrating.
Thanks in advance.
I am attempting to practice dissection to expose the 1st thoracic trachea to look for evidence of acarine infestation.
My problem is 50 % of the time when removing the head I also remove the trachea leaving exposed only the flight muscles or torn trachea.
If I manage to remove the head leaving the trachea intact then I am usually able to remove the collar and expose the trachea successfully.
I have tried removing the head in various ways but cannot do it successfully consistently. Does anyone have any tips?
My usual method of attempting head removal is securing the bee onto a piece of cork with an acarine needle through the lower half of the thorax between the middle and hind legs and with the forceps catching the fore legs in the forceps as one blade of forceps goes under chin and the other blade across the top of the head and then twist the head off backwards. I'm just getting through so many bees with so many failed attempts and it's so frustrating.
Thanks in advance.