How to prepare a bee specimen for photography: make a relaxing chamber

Insect specimens, once they are dry, are very brittle. This can be a problem when the specimen you are interested in is pinned in a way that makes is either look strange when taking a picture, or sometimes the position of the specimen on the pin makes it hard to see characteristics that are needed for identification. The solution to this problem is to relax the specimen in a relaxing chamber. This will loosen the insect's joints and make it movable so you can reposition it for photography or identification purposes. This video shows how I use a relaxing chamber to prepare my insect specimens for photography.
I used this technique for the specimens highlighted in our upcoming book Common bees of eastern North America published by Princeton University Press.
https://press.princeton.edu/books/ebo...