Microscopy

Attending a course at KRSC inspired the purchase of a stereo-microscope and compound microscope. Brunel Microscopes have a great selection, the two I choose are the SP150 Trinocular Compound Microscope,
and a MX7T Stereo-microscope.

Microscopy of Pollen
Since they have arrived I have collected pollen from a handful of different flowers, the pollen has then been stained and mounted onto microscope slide. I hope to continue collecting pollen and increasing my pollen slide collection.

Why?

Well, I have already identified what my bees were foraging on by collecting a pollen load from a bee and identifying the pollen to be Ivy. Identification is determined by a variety of pollen characteristics, including size, shape and colour.

                                                                

As an example, the pictures are of stained Common Jasmine pollen at x400 and a picture of the flower.
The pollen is approximately 40µm in diameter.

Microscopy of Bees

To help with explanations and identification, I have also purchased a number of books, these are given below.

    Pollen Identification for Beekeepers by Rex Sawyer

    The Pollen Grain Drawings of Dorothy Hodges.