# More ... > Beekeeper education >  Microscopy

## HJBee

Attended the 2 day course at SASA this weekend. I found it thoroughly enjoyable and the 2 days flew by. Now invested in 2 microscopes I'm looking forward to receiving for my poor weather beekeeping activities. A few photos to share, unfortunately my bank balance could not go to the cost for the dissecting Microscope I used on the course.  Anyone want a shot at identifying the part of anatomy, the disease, the pollen?

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## gavin

Errmmm .... well, some look real dodgy!

(I'm barred from answering due to spending a couple of days with the ladies at SASA a few weeks ago ... and having been a professional palynologist until recently ... although I may have been stumped on the pollen one myself.  Go on then, give us an idea of scale for the last one.)

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## Neils

No idea about the pollen and not sure if we've got spoiler tags enabled but I'll try:

[spoiler]
Disease is acarine 
Anatomy is the sting and related parts
[/spoiler]

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## HJBee

Scale is appx 100 micron, quite a big pollen for such a small plant. It's seasonal too.

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## HJBee

> No idea about the pollen and not sure if we've got spoiler tags enabled but I'll try:


Bang on Neil!

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## Kate Atchley

As you gathered ... some adept beekeepers on the course! And yes ... fascinating and fun. A clue perhaps ... I think the pollen's the one that can be used as a base measure?

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## Neils

> Bang on Neil!


Phew! I will admit to having done a few of those disease tests, but I've never done that dissection.

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## gavin

Well then ..... it looks to me rather like larch (without its normal granules) but that's not a small plant!  Larch pollen is about 80 microns across.

Standards for microscopy are often hazel (and it isn't hazel) or Lycopodium spores and its not that either.  

Here is larch from the Austrian database:



PS Spoiler tags?!  I'm off to Google ....

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## gavin

Spoiler tags:  For vBulletin 4 you need an add-on via code inserted somewhere, lots of debate about upgrades to vBulletin breaking it in Firefox, hmmnn.  We can live without it.

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## Neils

They are picked up by tapatalk however  :Smile:

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## Pete L

Crocus pollen?

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## Black Comb

I agree with Pete

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## alan riach

Pollen looks like Crocus which can vary from 60 to over 100 micron - Characteristics : round, large, no visible apertures, granular surface, thin exine (& spring)
Hazel is the "marker" pollen - shaped like the rotor of a Wankel engine (triangular with curved convex sides) and 25micron (a Wankel rotor has a constant diameter when measured through the centroid - as far as I know Herr Wankel did not keep bees but I may be wrong).
Alan

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## HJBee

A few correct answers here!

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## Bumble

> A clue perhaps ... I think the pollen's the one that can be used as a base measure?


I haven't the faintest clue about pollen, mainly because I'm too tight fisted to buy an identification book at the full price and don't have easy access to a microscope, but I'm fairly sure I heard (or read somewhere) not long ago that British honey always contains Forget Me Not pollen. If true, interesting, if not then totally irrelevant.  :Smile:

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## HJBee

Pollen was Crocus & Disease was Acarine & bee part was sting and associated parts.

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## Kate Atchley

Having been on the course too was pointed to this sight with some useful anatomy pics: http://www.understandingbeeanatomy.com.

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## Kate Atchley

On the case for pollen ... can anyone identify the brown twigs with little brown catkins, now opening to show yellow pollen. It grows low and plentiful at the boggy end of my garden and I think my be Eared Willow?
IMG_0124.jpg
The pics too small ... ugh?

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## gavin

The software shrinks images if uploaded.  If you park them on a photosharing site then link to them from here they will be displayed at that size.  The one below is on wildflowerfinder.co.uk.

Could be if it has willow-like catkins.  I take it isn't bog myrtle?

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## Kate Atchley

So if I add a non-public page to my website, I could upload pics there and they could be shown in all their glory here? 
I don't remember bog myrtle in that spot but could be. It's the sort of site they like.

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## gavin

Time will tell with the bog myrtle - or the scaly buds are diagnostic.

Yes, just place the images in a folder on your web space and insert the link via 'insert image' above.  I shrink mine to 800 pixels wide so that the size on here doesn't get silly.

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