A small glass vessel which is usually conical. It is used in preparing an inoculum of living microorganisms for a biochemical process such as fermentation. The microorganisms are first prepared by aseptically transferring colonies of the microorganism from agar plates upon which they have been stored at a chilled temperature into shake flasks containing an aqueous medium together with the necessary nutrients. The flasks are monoseptic in that only the living microorganism is present and sealed with sterile cotton wool. They are then slowly agitated in an orbital motion and maintained at a controlled temperature desirable for growth, such as 30^ºC. After a period of several hours to several days, the living cells have grown to a population sufficient to be transferred or inoculated into a bioreactor.