5 Things To Consider When Purchasing A Microscope For Bee Identification Or Insemination

1. MAGNIFICATION

​The magnification that you require will determine the type of microscope that you need. If you are viewing sections on slides at high magnification, you will need a compound microscope (also known as an upright microscope).  If you are putting whole bees under the microscope, or parts thereof, that are not sliced into thin sections (e.g. for dissecting or identifying), you will require a lower magnification stereo microscope (also known as a dissecting microscope).

Stereo/dissecting microscopes are most commonly required for applications involving bees so the rest of this post will focus on stereo/dissecting microscopes.

2. WORKING DISTANCE

This is the space between the bottom of the microscope nosepiece/objective lens and the part of your sample that is in focus.  It is the space available to position your hands and any tools under the microscope.  For purely identification purposes, you can usually get away with a smaller working distance.  If you are needing to do any dissecting or need to get any tools/tweezers under the microscope, you’ll need a stereo microscope with a longer working distance (we recommend over 100mm).

At this point it’s worth mentioning that typically the higher the magnification, the smaller the working distance.However, you can get some microscopes designed to have longer working distances.And, you can also add an auxiliary lens/objective to an existing microscope to decrease its magnification and increase its working distance, so check what optional extras are available for your model.This only applies to stereo zoom microscopes and single magnification stereo microscopes (not dual magnification stereo microscopes with a twisting turret/nosepiece).

3. LIGHTING

Lighting is absolutely crucial and of equal importance to the microscope itself!

1. Halogen vs LED: Some cheaper and older models of microscopes have halogen illumination. The main point of note here is that halogen gives off a fair amount of heat; not ideal for many applications.  LED is a cold light (and more energy efficient).  Halogen also has a yellow glow, LED tends to produce a daylight whiter colour (sometimes with a hint of blue). So, LED’s provide a truer representation of the colour of the sample.
2. Top (reflected) light vs bottom (transmitted) light.  If using a stereo microscope, you will most likely require reflected light.  Reflected light is used for viewing solid samples whereas transmitted illumination is used for viewing semi-transparent objects (biological sections on slides will use transmitted light compound microscopes).
3. There are different types of reflected lighting.  Most microscopes have their own basic top light built-in but this is almost always not enough.
   1. For bright, even illumination, an externally fitting ring light is a worthwhile investment.
   2. If you’re wanting to view difficult regions obscured by other parts of the bee then you’ll need a set of twin goosenecks to give you that added flexibility to angle the light accordingly.
   3. If you’re viewing a ‘shiny’/highly reflective sample (eyes for example) you’ll need something to reduce the glare.  The best method for this is a diffused ring light to diffuse the light, but this can be rather costly so only really used for professional photography purposes.  Another method is to use a polarising ring light.  This helps to reduce the glare with a cheaper price tag.

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4. CAMERA/PHOTOGRAPHY

Although it is possible to use DSLR cameras on microscopes and some people do get brilliant images, it’s not recommended due to the number of adapters and trial and error involved to get good image quality.  It’s a ‘faff’ and works out quite expensive. It is far simpler (and often cheaper!) to use a dedicated C-Mount fitting microscope camera.  Ideally, you’ll have a trinocular microscope that has a dedicated third port for the camera to attach to, but there are also eyepiece cameras options for those that only have binocular microscopes.

5. BUDGET!

Stereo microscopes typically range in price from £200 – £5000 so you’ll need a rough idea of your budget.  For £200 you get an entry level microscope.  Around £500-£1500 will get you a good quality microscope (that’s not one of the big four brands). Add more to the price for the well-known brands!

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