INSTRUMENTAL INSEMINATION

The illustration below shows the equipment I use for instrumental insemination procedure. Firstly, only the fittest and best queens should be selected, with similarly careful selection of the drones. Secondly, it is vital that absolute cleanliness and hygiene routines are strictly adhered to, to ensure that the inseminated queens are in the best of health.

Instrumental insemination has been demonstrated to produce highly successful results, and provides substantial advantages in stock improvement that cannot be achieved through natural mating.

The cost of setting up for instrumental insemination, including buying additional bee rearing equipment, is quite high, but, for those with good concentration, very steady hands and good hand/eye coordination, what are primarily delicate microscopic operations in both collecting semen from the drones and instrumentally inseminating the anaesthetized queens, can be performed with great success.