Wax Worm/P. larvae LD50

From 5-8-15.

I added wax to three 96 well plates. Bee's wax was cut to small shavings using a sterile scalpel in a petri dish. Every pre-caution was taken to not contaminate the wax beyond its natural state. The wax itself is not sterile, but I didn't wish to add to it! The wax shavings were transferred to the 96 well plates using a sterile forceps.

Only the first and last four columns of each plate had wax added to them. This is because when the wax worms will be added (and an adhesive cover added) it will be easier to access them if they are not in the middle of the plate. The plates were heated in a ~65C water bath for ~5 minutes or however long it took to melt the wax to the bottom of the plate.

Hot plate water bath used to melt the wax in the 96 well plates. Notice, only the first and last 4 columns have was in them.

Bottom of 96 well plate after wax had melted. Only enough wax was added to cover the bottom of the well. In this case, less wax was preferable to more.

The plates were stored at room temperature. The spores have yet to be added to the wax, along with the early instar wax worms.

//EWW