# General beekeeping > Native honeybees >  Microscopy for Amm

## Kate Atchley

3rd new thread in 15 mins ... Gavin will fire me!

Completed the fascinating, exam-preparatory microscopy course last weekend and was disappointed to find that the comparative study of bees' anatomical characteristics is not on the syllabus nor given any attention. Ugh ... in this era of breeding local and protecting the Amm subspecies?

Eager as I am to put my expensive kit to extensive use; with Amm breeding to keep an eye on; and aspirations to increase the native-ness of our local bees generally, I went looking for the definitive guide to measuring those specialities ... abdominal hair length, tomenta width, something about the tongue and the hair length v leg width etc. Did I find it? No.

So please point me to the idiots guide to microscopy for Amm addicts (the wing morphometry's sorted) AND how do we get the SBA to change the microscopy exam syllabus here where there are more native bees than elsewhere in the UK?

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