Hi Peter


> Could anyone please tell me what is the proper  method?

There may be several methods, but here is one that works for me.

1.  Dilute the honey around 10 fold with water (5 fold may be enough, less 
dilution and the pollen may not sink).

2.  Spin down in a centrifuge (or let settle at home in a wine glass with a 
narrow base for 2 days).  Carefully pour off the clear water-honey mix.

3.  Take the sediment and smear on a microscope slide.  Allow to dry partially 
until the smear is fixed to the slide.

4.  (Some may dry fully and rinse in isopropanol to remove oils, not strictly 
necessary)

5.  Add stain-mountant.  (I use warmed glycerine-gelatine 1:1 with a drop of 
phenol from Sigma, plus a few drops of fuchsin stain dissolved in acetic acid to 
give a light pink solution.  Working quickly, smear a thick layer on a 
cover-slip, then invert the slide until it touches, flip back over and let the 
coverslip settle.  Warming the slide first may help if you are not so quick as 
it sets rapidly.)

6.  After a few minutes you can view the stained pollen.  Keeps for years like 
that.

A really low-tech method would be to just mount the sediment on a slide as it is 
- you can usually make out the pollen.

best wishes

Gavin


             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm