so much useful. Thank you sir

A lot of thanks, is a good information.

@adrianbehennah744

2 жыл бұрын

You’re welcome !

Thank you for video. Best entomological and beekeeping greetings from Ukraine! Best wishes!

So neat! I’ve just started my collection. My first is a Murder Hornet. I do have a little bumblebee I found on ground.

@adrianbehennah744

2 жыл бұрын

Good luck ! I personally don’t like killing anything so a lot of my personal specimens are simply dead or dying critters I found. For the specimens you mentioned (hornet and bumblebee) I recommend relaxing them before pinning, but no need to clean them.

Gosh they are beautiful

@adrianbehennah744

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks! They look curiously lifelike.

I found a deceased bumblebee on my sunny porch today and would love to pin it. It looks quite fluffy/clean and I was wondering if it is at all necessary to place it in alcohol before pinning or not due to how I found it? Edited to add I'm just a casual hobbyist :)

@adrianbehennah744

4 жыл бұрын

FlyAsAPenguin i wouldn’t clean it or put in alcohol. Instead though I would relax it for a few hours to make the specimen pliable for pinning else limbs might break when you go to pin it. Get a plasticwear container, put a sponge or a wad of paper towel in the bottom, add some warm water, put something like a pettrie dish or even a small lid with a rim on top of the sponge, then line with paper towel, and put the bee. Seal the lid, check in 2-3 hours . If you can manipulate the limbs it’s ready to pin, otherwise leave a little longer :)

I've been collecting native bees and I never knew how to clean them because I was afraid the alcohol would be too harsh and make them lose their fluff or color, thank you so much!!

@adrianbehennah744

Жыл бұрын

Your welcome !! Sorry for the belated reply !!

Do they have to be soaked before they're preserved? I found one with its wings spread and I dont wanna damage it buy putting them in alcohol

@adrianbehennah744

2 жыл бұрын

Hi! I’m so sorry I missed your Q, my apologies. I assume you prob got an answer elsewhere, but I’ll try to answer. If your specimen is going to be pinned, and it is in otherwise good condition for ID (ie hairs not matted), then simply relax/ rehydrate specimen in a relaxing box and direct pin. If you plan to preserve in 70% ethanol, again there isn’t really a need to clean it as in the video. If it’s really loaded with pollen then you might want to first rinse it gently with some 70% before transferring it to a vial with fresh 70%, just so that you don’t have a messy sludge of artifacts in your specimen vial. But as another person who posted noted, there is a lot of info from pollen etc so you don’t need to clean it if it’s going to be preserved wet. I hope that helps, please follow up if I didnt answer your Q.

You trap them???

Hello, thank you so much for the video clip, could you send more of this video material, I study bumblebees, and this topic is very interesting to me. (I use a translator, and the translation can be invalid).

@adrianbehennah744

Жыл бұрын

You’re welcome, thanks for the nice comment ! I am hoping to make more videos in the future, although I’m not sure if I have much more bumble bee content to share right now. I’ll refer you to the video channel of Sam Droge, he’s the expert (not me lol). Check the “videos” tab, you will find a wealth of valuable bee-related information: youtube.com/@swdroege Here’s another video with Sam that isn’t on his channel: kzread.info/dash/bejne/pJOpxs-ml6WyedI.html Your English is excellent by the way !!

Do you have to pin through the abdomen? I'm planning on preserving mine in resin so I kind of just want to make sure its legs and wings are positioned properly.

@adrianbehennah744

3 жыл бұрын

Hi! Sorry, my sincerest apologies for not answering sooner. You pin through the mesothorax, not the abdomen. I’ll send you a couple of links

@adrianbehennah744

3 жыл бұрын

See figure F extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/documents/9591/pinning-insects.pdf

@adrianbehennah744

3 жыл бұрын

See page 86 (diagram- see Fig.77) and Page 151 (instructions for pinning Apoidea) esc-sec.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/AAFC_insects_and_arachnids_part_1_eng.pdf

@adrianbehennah744

3 жыл бұрын

One more suggestion, you might need to relax the specimen before pinning- I explained the procedure in one of my comments on this video

Got any recommendations for beetles? Can flys be cleaned the same way as bees or are they too fragile?

@adrianbehennah744

3 жыл бұрын

Good Q! Honestly I’ve never cleaned anything other than bees and wasps. I imagine strong beetles such as weevil specimens might do well with this process but other more fragile beetles will get damaged. You’re correct flies, are definitely too fragile. The best person to ask would be Sam Droege lab orcid.org/0000-0003-4393-0403

I found a dead bee outside my apartment and it’s fully in tact. I’ve been trying to read up on how I need to prepare it for pinning for display but I’m getting mixed messages. Do I need to store it in alcohol for preservation first or do I just need to rehydrate it with a little bit of alcohol to loosen it up for pinning? Won’t it decay if I just pin it right away?

@doviende

Жыл бұрын

if it's stiff, you can put it in a tupperware container beside a lightly damp paper towel, and seal it up for a day. in that time, the bee absorbs a bit of moisture and is then flexible enough to move around.

@monkeycigs4762

10 ай бұрын

Most things loosen up with a little alcohol. I know I do.

Hi Adrian- love the video!! I’ve had two bees sitting in a clean bottle cap for a while now, which were pretty pollen covered/dusty and have realised today that they are covered in bee mites… I feel awful and don’t know what I expected, is this normal? Since I collected them dry, I’m not sure what would be best to do in this situation- wet them and clean them? Leave them and let the mites fall off naturally? Either way I would love to preserve them.

@adrianbehennah744

Жыл бұрын

Hi! My apologies I didn’t reply sooner. Thanks for liking the video!!. I have a few suggestions, these are what I would do but I’m sure others may have different advice, but hopefully this will answer your questions. First, I’m assuming the mites are all dead as well, but if you have insects that have been sitting around for a while you might want to stick them in the freezer for a few days to make sure there are no dermesteds nibbling on your specimens and nothing else alive. Alternatively, you could freeze them as a last step after pinning. Regarding cleaning, I’m not sure that I would clean them further, unless they are impossible to identify. If the dust is superficial you could get a small artists paintbrush (like a 000) and moisten it lightly and try to gently remove big particles of dust under a dissecting scope. But be careful not to dislodge the bees own hairs. Pollen and mites can give information about the specimen too, so leaving it is practical even if not aesthetic. Finally to pin the specimens, the number one thing you need to do is relax them before pinning. That means, using a relaxing chamber to make the limbs pliable and the cuticle less brittle. I described that in one of my other comments here, quick and easy way is get some plastic Gladware, put warm water in the bottom, put in some paper towel or a sponge to act like a wick, put the specimens on a Petri dish or plastic lid, sit this on top of the sponge, wait about 3-6 hrs min or overnight (but not much longer because of mold) check and see if you can move a limb, give it longer if necessary, and pin as soon as you can. I would still do that even if you decide to clean them. Let me know if you have any more Questions or want any clarification. Thanks !!

@fay4530

Жыл бұрын

@@adrianbehennah744 Thanks so much for getting back to me so soon. I've done a bit more research since my comment, so am all prepared on the relaxing chamber front- thank you! Also, I was unaware that freezing them would do the job, but this is exactly what I needed to hear, as actually these little things are still alive! Trying not to let it give me the heebie-jeebies haha. I'm now wondering if they are actually dermesteds and not mites, which is probably the case. I'll pop them in the freezer for a bit, and have plenty of paintbrushes that can be used for the job- thanks again!

@adrianbehennah744

Жыл бұрын

@@fay4530 hi! You’re welcome ! To exterminate dermestidae, put specimen in freezer for about 5 days, remove for one day and allow to thaw and not condense (so you don’t get a soggy specimen), and refreeze again for another 5 days. If you got vermin, do this first. How to tell, adult dermestids are tiny beetles and don’t look like bee mites, big difference in size (mites are much smaller). Life state of ermestids nibbling on a specimen most likely are larval stages which look like tiny furry brown grub-like caterpillars, that will molt their cuticles and also leave behind sawdust-like frass (their excrement).

@fay4530

Жыл бұрын

@@adrianbehennah744 Definately seemed like dermestids then, as the bees were covered in this sawdust-y stuff. Thanks so much!

Can I use isopropyl alcohol? That's all I have currently.

@adrianbehennah744

Жыл бұрын

Yeah I use drugstore 70% isopropyl usually marketed as “Rubbing alcohol”. If you have 99% then dilute it with distilled water (or regular water if that’s all you have).

How long do they need to dry after all these steps?

@adrianbehennah744

Жыл бұрын

Hi! Im so sorry for the belated reply my sincerest apologies. So, in the video I dry the bees with a hairdryer. It doesn’t take long, I would check it minute by minute.. I recall 2-3 min was usually sufficient If you dry them too much they go hard and brittle and you can’t pin them unless you relax them. Now, they will still contain a residue of fluid, which is fine because it means they are more pliable if you want to pin them. But after 3-4 hrs at room temp they are pretty much dry, and 100% after 24 hrs . Let me know if you have any other questions.

When you first get a bee, is 99% + alcohol ok?

@adrianbehennah744

2 жыл бұрын

Sure if that’s what you used 70% alcohol is generally the standard because it’s less drying to the specimen than 99%

I found a few dead bumblebees on my porch and stored them in the freezer. Should I let them thaw before cleaning?

@adrianbehennah744

Жыл бұрын

Hi! Im so sorry for the belated reply my sincerest apologies. Definitely let them thaw first. But do you need to clean them? If they were dry and dead, I would recommend simply relaxing them (I described that below in a other comment) and pinning directly. The specimens that we cleaned were stored in fluid, so they needed cleaning to wash out the propylene glycol. But normally specimen that you catch or find dry and dead, may not need cleaning. Let me know if you have any more questions!

@izettaholland

Жыл бұрын

@@adrianbehennah744 No worries! I'm pressing some flowers to go with this project so I have a few weeks before I can start. Thanks for the information, they probably don't need to be washed!

Do I need alcohol to preserve the bee or to prevent it from deteriorating? Or could I just pin it?

@elliewolfiewu9712

2 жыл бұрын

Do I have to pin it as well? I actually seemingly like the position it had passed away in. It's a bit curled up like it is taking a nap, but its wings are beautifully spread. I had kept watch as it circled before passing away and made sure it was gone before carefully taking it home.

@adrianbehennah744

2 жыл бұрын

Just pin it is fine ! Properly stored pinned specimens can last 100s of years lol. Regarding your specimen, if it’s dried out at all then you ought to relax it first, it will be more pliable and you can insert the pin and it won’t fracture the cuticle or break off pieces of leg or tarsi. I explained the relaxing step in one of my other comments.

Hi, my bumble bee is loosing fluff when I try to brush him to help him stay fluffy... How do i prevent him from losing more fluff?

@LuvkittiXO

Ай бұрын

I use a very small makeup brush with flufffy bristles

How do I loosen the body for pinning? I can't figure it out!

@adrianbehennah744

Жыл бұрын

If the bee specimen is already dry, then you need to relax it for a few hours-days to make the specimen pliable for pinning else limbs might break when you go to pin it. Get a plasticwear container, put a sponge or a wad of paper towel in the bottom, add some warm water, put something like a pettrie dish or even a small lid with a rim on top of the sponge, then line with paper towel, and put the bee. Seal the lid, replace the hot water periodically. When I used a big plastic ware container it was very fast, but I’m using a small one recently (about 2L size) and I found 48 hrs is ideal, I replaced tue hot water after 24 hrs. Check a specimen , if you can gently wiggle the limbs it’s ready to pin, otherwise leave a little longer :)

@NikkiMarieLeona

Жыл бұрын

@@adrianbehennah744 This worked! Thank you

@adrianbehennah744

Жыл бұрын

@@NikkiMarieLeona great, happy to hear that it worked out for you.

Hi, how would you suggest cleaning bees that have been dried out for an undetermined amount of time?, no longer than a few days. Should I rehydrate them and then clean them for pinning? Or are dried bees able to handle the tornado bath and wind storm? Thank you for your help!

@adrianbehennah744

2 жыл бұрын

So, i have a Q, were the bees originally collected dry i.e. by sweep net, found on a window sill, etc? Or were they collected with a wet method, i.e. into alcohol/ glycol, pitfall trap, etc, and then subsequently dried out ? If they were collected dry, then I assume their hairs aren’t matted and bees are looking pretty good already. I wouldn’t recommend cleaning them, simply rehydrate in a relaxing box (see one of my other comments here) and pin. If they were originally collected wet and have gone matted as they dried out, then you may want to (first )rehydrate in a relaxing box and (second) clean the bees. I’m not 100% certain to be honest but I think they are pretty crispy by now and need a bit more flexibility before being washed. You do run a bigger risk of losing limbs.

can i use hand sanitizer? its all i got rn ;c

@adrianbehennah744

Жыл бұрын

Hi! I’m so sorry I’m answering so late. So, it depends what you are preserving, and what you want to do with the specimen. I’ll give some examples. Soft-bodied insects and arthropods, for example caterpillars or spiders, are permanently preserved in collections in 70% ethanol. Most harder-bodied specimens (more “sclerotized”) are pinned, by comparison. That’s for permanent collections. When initially collecting specimens in the field, it’s a different story. You might collect specimens into vials containing 70% ethanol (or 70% isopropanol = rubbing alcohol if you don’t have ethanol). Hand sanitizer is usually 60+% ethanol in some gel so its not too far off and it actually works fine for collecting specimens initially. You prob don’t want to keep your specimens in hand sanitizer permanently though, probably better to take them out of the sanitizer gel, rinse them off, and put them into 70% alcohol or pin them etc, depending on the type of critter. I hope that answers your Q, let me know if you have any more Qs!

Please do NOT clean specimens before pinning them. Analyses of pollen change over time are critically important

@adrianbehennah744

4 жыл бұрын

Heather Lerner thanks, I understand the importance. What do you recommend doing with bee specimens that come out of alcohol?

I'm wondering why do you have to kill so much of the same spicies, wouldn't one of them be enough if you're colleting them? I don't have much problems with catching one, but a bunch of them...why?

@abdulraffydibansa1303

9 ай бұрын

It's just for redundancy and checking the characters of the species. You need a bunch of them to be sure that you have what you think you have, could also be due to phenotypic plasticity wherein some organisms or a generation can have a different physical appearance than the previous generation due to the environmental effect. This is most common in insects that easily adapt to their environments particularly moths, butterflies and in ants and bees.