Insemination instruments

Instrumental insemination solves a problem no other method does: controlling the father. In natural mating the queen flies and mates with whatever drones are around, and half the selection is lost right there.

What it is actually used for

It is not a technique for producing queens in quantity — mating in nuclei is for that, cheaper and faster. It is used for selection work: fixing traits, making controlled crosses, conserving a line or testing genetics before multiplying it. If you do not keep line records, you probably do not need it.

What you need besides the device

The device — Schley, Harbo — is the visible part, but not enough. You also need:

• Drone-rearing frame (from €1.95) — because you have to produce drones of the line you want, not collect whatever is around.
• Consumables: syringes, tips, silicone sealing tubing and cleaning wires, from €1.95. They wear out and get contaminated; they are a recurring cost.
• CO₂ for narcosis, and a magnifier or stereomicroscope with good light.

And what you cannot buy

The hand. It is a precision technique learned by practising, and the first queens are lost. There is specific training, in person and online, and the difference between the two is not the syllabus: it is that with the equipment in front of you someone corrects your touch.

Before investing €3,905 in a set, the course costs a fraction and tells you whether this is for you.