Trinocular Stereomicroscope for Schley Inseminator

01 · WHY A STEREO AND NOT ANOTHER KIND

Depth of view and room for your hands

In instrumental insemination you work with two hands under the objective: the queen holding tube, the hooks that open the sting chamber and the tip of the syringe. That calls for a stereo microscope, which gives a three-dimensional image and leaves working distance, not a compound laboratory microscope.

The head is inclined at 45°, with dioptre and interpupillary adjustment. Those three adjustments decide whether a two-hour session ends without a stiff neck.

02 · LIGHT FROM ABOVE AND BELOW

Incident and transmitted, 3 W LED

It carries 3 W LED incident and transmitted illumination, usable together or separately. On this work it matters: light from above defines the relief of what you are handling, and light from below outlines the contours by transparency.

The optics are anti-fungal and anti-reflective, which on an instrument that lives in a damp room and is used daily is no small detail.

03 · THE MAGNIFICATION, WITH A CAVEAT

WF10x/21 mm eyepieces and expandable zoom

The eyepieces are WF10x with a 21 mm field. The maker puts the system range between 2.1x and 135x, but the small print is worth reading: that top figure is reached with optional accessories, not with the standard configuration.

Insemination does not need the top end. The fine work happens at the low end of the range, where there is enough field to see the whole queen and enough distance to get your hands in.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

An optical instrument in a beekeeping shop: worth bounding.