Schley®-Modified Harbo Precision Insemination Syringe

01 · WHAT ELSE YOU NEED

The full rig and the training

To inseminate you need the queen holder with its hooks, a source of CO₂ for anaesthesia and a stereo microscope: the work is done under magnification, on a sleeping animal, with volumes you cannot see by eye.

And you need training. This is a laboratory technique, not apiary handling: you learn it from someone who practises it, and the first queens are lost. Buying the syringe before that means buying a part you will not be able to use.

02 · HOW MUCH IT HOLDS, AND FOR HOW MANY

The capillaries are 50 µl

The working dose is on the order of microlitres per queen — the trade standard is around 8-10 µl — so each 50 µl capillary covers five or six queens if the semen is used well.

It comes with ten capillaries and five glass tips. The tips are the delicate part: they enter the queen's chamber and get replaced when they chip, not when they break outright.

03 · WHAT IT IS ACTUALLY FOR

Mating control, not more honey

A naturally mated queen mates with drones you did not choose. Instrumental insemination gives that control back: you choose the father, and from there come directed crosses, pure lines and genetic conservation.

It is not a tool for having queens — ordinary rearing does that — but for having a line. If your aim is production, conventional queen rearing is far cheaper.

04 · THE RUBBER PLUNGER

Fine control over a minimal volume

Schley's modification of the Harbo design is the rubber plunger: it follows the movement instead of jumping, which is what a rigid plunger does once it overcomes friction.

In an instrument whose useful travel is measured in microlitres, that difference decides whether the volume goes out controlled or all at once. The rest of the set — fixed and magnetic stands, silicone tubing and connectors — is there to keep the syringe held and sealed while you work with both hands.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Check that you already have the rest of the equipment and the training. The syringe is the expensive part of a set that does not work piecemeal.