My first stupid question-drone semen size

[Lauri]

I have an ancient old Black Bausch and Lomb microscope I have been using the last few years to check my stallions semen quality. It Came out of a university way back when-so it is a decent one. My question is LOL, how much smaller is drone semen than horse semen? (HeeHee, I know your laughing)

My microscope has four power settings. I have been using 43x for the horses. The last setting is 97X
(Others are 10x and 3.5 x) I am wondering if this microscope is good enough to view the semen.

If I had drones around right now I'd just look myself.
I plan to eventually inseminate and checking the quality of my semen samples seems like a good idea, especially the first few times I collection be sure I'm doing it right.

While were on the subject, how difficult is it to freeze drone semen in liquid nitrogen for inseminating Northern Queens at the earliest opportunity? Is frozen semen quality good enough for insemination? Or are these queens more quickly superceded because of inferior fertilization?

I can not seem to find any info on this subject other that PDF's that are several pages long with way too much complicated scientific info to sort through. Thought I'd just ask.

Thanks,
Lauri Miller

[100 td]

Ever thought about google?
A honey bee spermatozoan measures 250-270 µm in length (Lino-Neto et al. 2000), and consists of the DNA-containing 'head' and the mobilizing 'tail.' The head of the sperm is made up of an acrosome and a nucleus, and measures 5 µm long, 0.5 µm wide and 0.3 µm thick (Lensky et al. 1979).

Drone semen has remarkably good longevity compared to other animal species. Once deposited in the queen’s spermatheca, spermatazoa remain viable for the duration of the queen’s life, up to five years (Taber 1954, Verma 1974, Weirich et al. 2002). The mechanism by which drone sperm are kept viable in the spermatheca is explained in part by special antioxidants present in the spermatheca of a mated queen. These antioxidants prevent the oxidation (deterioration) of spermatozoa by converting harmful free radicals to waste products. Furthermore, spermatozoa experience a decreased metabolism and mobility while being held within the queen’s spermatheca, which also slows the process of degeneration (Weirich et al. 2002).

A honey bee spermatozoan measures 250-270 µm in length (Lino-Neto et al. 2000), and consists of the DNA-containing 'head' and the mobilizing 'tail.' The head of the sperm is made up of an acrosome and a nucleus, and measures 5 µm long, 0.5 µm wide and 0.3 µm thick (Lensky et al. 1979). The acrosome is an anterior cap which produces enzymes that allow the sperm to penetrate the outer membrane of the egg. The flagellum (tail) is the motor of the spermatozoan and is comprised of the axoneme, two mitochondrial derivatives or strands (for energy production), and two triangular accessory bodies (Lino-Neto et al. 2000). The axoneme forms the central portion of the tail, and the mitochondrial derivatives run along either side from the base of the nucleus nearly to the end of the tail (Rothschild 1955); the tiny accessory bodies are sandwiched between the axoneme and the mitochondrial derivatives.
More reading here
http://www.beeculturemagazine.net/st...y&recordID=657

[sqkcrk]

I don't know.

Would they have to be the same size? One cell? Though I never thought about it before, are all single cells the same size? I don't know.

[Velbert]

You want to keep Drone semen at room temp for using in I.I. if i remember it is good for about 10-15 days

[JSL]

Laurie,

You should be able to see the honey bee sperm cells just fine with your microscope. I assume you are using 10x eye pieces so your magnification for the horse semen is actually 430x? It has been a while, so I am working from memory..., but I seem to remember we used around 600x for a little more detail, but you should be able to see movement with 430x, especially in freshly collected semen diluted with a drop of saline. Honey bee sperm cells have relatively long and slender "tails" that are fairly delicate.

Honey bee semen can be frozen for research purposes, but for all practical purposes, it is best to collect fresh semen. As with other animal species, honey bee semen experiences a relatively high mortality rate. This is not a big issue for large animals that require a very small number of viable sperm cells in a relatively short period of time. However, it appears as though the dead sperm cells create a problem when inseminating queens. The result is poorly inseminated queens that do not last very long.

Joe

[Lauri]

Thanks Joe, Exactly what I wanted to know.

[julysun]

I remember Steve Taber writing about II and the methods he used. http://www.amazon.com/Breeding-super...8499220&sr=8-8