Latshaw Apiaries 

Instrumental insemination is one of those procedures that is easier to learn and understand if you are able to see what others are talking about.  For this reason, we have provided this page to give you a closer look at certain aspects associated with instrumental insemination.  

This close up picture of the queen placed in the queen holder with the ventral hook positioned and the forceps gently holding the sting shows the proper positioning of the queen prior to inserting the insemination tip.  Below you will see pictures which will lead you to this step.

Once the queen has been placed in the queen holder and anesthetized with carbon dioxide gas, the ventral hook in inserted just far enough so that it will hold the queen in the proper position.  Note that the hook is not placing downward pressure on the queen's abdomen.

After inserting the ventral hook the forceps are used to gently grasp the tip of the sting.  Remember, the purpose of the ventral hook is just to hold the queen, while you use the forceps to lift the sting structure up and away from the ventral hook at approximately a 45 degree angle.

Upon opening the queen, search for the characteristic "V" shaped opening where you will then insert the insemination tip.  For this picture see if you can locate the "V", which will be positioned as "<".  I have indicated the opening with three black dots.  The dot furthest to the left marks the point of the sideways "<".

Once you have positioned the queen, you may insert the insemination tip, as shown by this picture.  The tip is inserted approximately 1-2mm.  With a little practice, you will learn to recognize the proper depth.  When inserting the tip, the surrounding tissue should not move downward with the movement of the tip.  If this happens, your tip is likely to be improperly positioned.

Have you ever wondered what is inside of the queen that allows her to lay all those eggs?  This picture shows the paired ovaries of a healthy queen that was in peak egg production.  The ovaries of a laying queen can fill most of her abdomen.  At the very bottom of the picture, you can see the queen's sting, and just slightly above the sting, before the ovaries, you can see the spermatheca, or sperm storage organ.  

This is the spermatheca of a mated queen, which contains sperm.  A quick way to see if your inseminations were successful is to dissect out the queen's spermatheca 24 hours after insemination.

This is a picture of a spermatheca from an unmated queen.  Note the clarity, due to the absence of sperm.

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Last modified: 02/29/08

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