Pollen Traps, Brood Rearing, and Work Force

[Ron Young]

I was curious about the use of pollen traps. I have seasonal allergies, and have started using bee pollen as a possible aid in reducing the effects of allergies. I got the pollen from our local bee club president, and was thinking if it works, I may do a trap of my own.

I do have a few questions.

1. What effect does the reduced pollen have on brood production?

2. Does the colony have to dedicate more workers to pollen gathering as opposed to nectar?

3. What are the pro's and con's of pollen traps?

Thanks to all.

[Dan Williamson]

I use the Sundance I bottom mount traps.

I collected 6 one-gal ziploc bags full of pollen this spring in 3 weeks from 3 traps.

1. I saw no decreased brood production.

2. I'm sure more workers get recruited for pollen collection. Those 3 hives still had a surplus of pollen stored in combs when I took the traps off after 3 weeks.

I haven't seen a difference in the honey gathered by the hives with pollen traps and those without. I have 4 supers being on the hives that had pollen traps.

3. The pros... you get to collect pollen for sale or to feed back to bees for q-rearing or for spring stimulation.

The only con I have found is that on a really hot day, the pollen traps seem to restrict some of the air movement and you will see more bees bearding in the front. I try to collect in spring and then remove the traps for the summer flow and will install again for the fall flow.

[Troy]

As to the question "Will the pollen trap reduce honey production?" I have read it on this board numerous times. The general consensus seems to be no.

I used a sundance II pollen trap earlier this spring and it worked great, but I did not do a side by side test, so I can't say for sure if i made NO difference or just a little difference.

Certainly if there is a reduction in honey production it is very small.

I too saw that the colony had surplus pollen in the frames even after I took the trap off, so I don't think it affect brood production either.

From what I had read I seemed to find a consensus among those who had used both a SUndance I (bottom trap) and a Sundance II (top trap) that the Sundance II (top) was a little better. Less debris ends up in the pollen.