Bees are insects that play an important role in the ecosystem, not only as good pollinators, but also make an irreplaceable contribution to the maintenance of plant diversity and ecological balance. Because of their unique social structure and ecological habits, bee taxidermy has become an important area of entomological research.
The process of preparing bee specimens usually involves several steps, including capture, fixation, drying and preservation. First, catching bees requires attention to choosing the right time and place, and bees are usually more active in warmer weather and places where flowers are in full bloom. The captured bees are then quickly placed in suitable containers to reduce stress reactions. In the process of fixation, ethanol or other fixation agents are generally used to preserve the morphological characteristics of bees.
This is followed by drying, a process that is crucial to the long-term preservation of dried specimens. Commonly used drying methods are natural drying and hot air drying, each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Natural drying method takes longer, but can better retain the color and form of the specimen, while hot air drying is faster,but may lead to the loss of some color and detail.
Once the bee specimens are dried, they can be sorted and classified. The preparation of the specimen usually involves shaping the bee into a suitable pose and attaching it to the display board with a needle so that its characteristics can be observed. Attaching a label to the specimen, indicating the collection time, place,environment and other information, is conducive to subsequent research and identification.
Bee specimens are not only an important tool for entomological research,but also provide an intuitive display for education and popular science. By observing the shape characteristics,color distribution and body size differences of bees.