I decided to get into pollen harvesting this year. Everyone had nothing but good things to say about the Sundance II pollen traps so I bought one. I got the top entrance version (sold by Blue Sky Bee Supply) since I do cedar shim top entrances on all my hives. Three weeks ago I installed it. Last night I removed the shims putting the Sundance II into "collection mode". Today I've got massive bearding. I run all 8 frame mediums and this hive is 5 boxes high. Bees bearding from top to bottom on 2 sides. The other 2 sides have 2' of bearded bees. The instructions said to use the trap on your strongest hive. This hive is my strongest and it is quite strong. I didn't hear anybody reporting that you should expect this kind of confusion and congestion when harvesting pollen. Is this normal? Will the bees get it figured out over the next few days?
Below is what I harvested an hour ago. Might fill a Coke bottle cap. I read you can expect around a pound a day. What do you typically get?
Below is what I harvested an hour ago. Might fill a Coke bottle cap. I read you can expect around a pound a day. What do you typically get?
