BIIG Practical Day at Islip June 2006

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Saturday, 26th June 2006

Islip Village Hall was the venue for this practical intrumental insemination teaching day, Islip is a small village near Oxford and is thus reasonably central in the UK, making it less of a chore for those that have to travel.

The format for the day was, as usual, a practical workshop, with demonstrations of semen harvesting, queen insemination and tip manufacture. Beginners were able to receive guidance in the use of II equipment and get to try the methods at first hand. Whilst more experienced practitioners had the opportunity to discuss techniques and exchange new ideas.

As in previous years Stephen Loughborough had his Schley manufactured tip drawing device set up and demonstratedthe drawing and grinding to shape of insemination tips. The gadget consists of an electrically heated coil with a drop weight and there is a small grinder attached to the stanchion that can be used for shaping the tip once the glass tube has been drawn.

Participants were also invited to bring virgin queens, mature drones or semen straws.

Starting time was 10:00 am and every body was welcomed by Mary and Bill Dartnall who were looking after the door and collecting the fees, these however are small, even for non-members, at £2.00, the cost being free to BIIG members.

Refreshments are not provided so packed lunches are required for sustenance. However tea and coffee were available.

There are various components to the skill set required for II and one of these is harvesting semen from drones. Here Alan Brown has a go for himself... This sort of 'hands on' approach gives quicker learning for the pupil and helps the tutor to establish the pitfalls that he (or she) may inadvertently lead a student into. The equipment being used, belongs to Richard Jackman.