Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: confusion about the pollen traps  (Read 4452 times)

Offline slacker361

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 772
  • Gender: Male
    • Thank You Honey
confusion about the pollen traps
« on: January 20, 2011, 04:38:39 pm »
OK so I got my sundance bottom traps today , an I must say I am confused on how they work ( of course a paper clip has me baffled so I am sure these will definitely do it )   so from what I can tell on these traps is:

the bees enter the hive and go through the little cones?

then the bees have to transverse the pollen trap then make another 180 and go back the other way before they get into the hive from the trap.   during this transversing of the hive the pollen is removed from the bee and dropped in the collector?


Offline wd

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 548
  • Gender: Male
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2011, 06:20:07 pm »
basically, they enter the hive through a tight spot / entrance and it knocks the pollen off then drops into the collection tray

Offline slacker361

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 772
  • Gender: Male
    • Thank You Honey
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2011, 07:06:42 pm »
yeah I kinda got that concept..... so is it door up, bottom open, to collect pollen? or the other way around?

Offline slacker361

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 772
  • Gender: Male
    • Thank You Honey
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2011, 09:03:24 pm »
Ok after not being able to let this go ( dog with a bone) i think i got it down. when stealing pollen, the door is up , this makes the bees go into the trap and up the side where the pollen is stripped. When not taking pollen the door is put down, the bees go through the little holes and straight ahead where the pollen is not stripped because the entry at this point is bigger.

HA   at least I think that is it.  :-D :-D

Offline Michael Bush

  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 19832
  • Gender: Male
    • bushfarms.com
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2011, 12:36:08 am »
>he bees enter the hive and go through the little cones?

No.

Pollen traps all work on this principle, they have to go through something that is a tight squeeze (usually #5 hardware cloth) and lose some pollen which falls through a screen (usually #7 hardware cloth) into a drawer with a screen bottom (screen door screen).  The cones are so they can exit without going back through the #5 hardware cloth and so the drones can escape.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Offline slacker361

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 772
  • Gender: Male
    • Thank You Honey
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2011, 05:52:47 pm »
OK then riddle me this..... how do the bees get in through the trap when one is not collecting pollen. Like the reason why there is an " on / off" switch on the pollen trap?

Offline Tommyt

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 855
  • Gender: Male
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2011, 07:19:47 pm »
how do the bees get in through the trap when one is not collecting pollen.

Real close to the Toll Gate up on Jersey Turnpike :-D


Tommyt
"Not everything found on the internet is accurate"
Abraham Lincoln

Offline wd

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 548
  • Gender: Male
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2011, 08:38:50 pm »
not to be a smart a$$. Did you read the instructions and do you have time to check on it every day?

Offline slacker361

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 772
  • Gender: Male
    • Thank You Honey
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2011, 10:05:05 pm »
yes i read the instructions and yes I can check on it everyday. I guess it is an enigma as no one seems to know the workings of it fully

Offline Michael Bush

  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 19832
  • Gender: Male
    • bushfarms.com
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2011, 01:44:51 am »
I don't have mine in front of me but the switch always opens up a path that allows bypassing going through the #5 hardware cloth.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Offline reinbeau

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 2504
  • Gender: Female
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #10 on: September 02, 2012, 10:33:13 pm »
Old thread, I know, but I wanted to ask, how do the bees do housekeeping with a pollen trap in place?  How do the undertaker bees get out with the dead?  Housekeeping bees? 

Offline Michael Bush

  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 19832
  • Gender: Male
    • bushfarms.com
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #11 on: September 03, 2012, 03:16:18 pm »
With a Sundance they haul them out the drone escapes.  But that is another reason to open them up from time to time...
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Offline reinbeau

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 2504
  • Gender: Female
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #12 on: September 03, 2012, 11:07:28 pm »
With a Sundance they haul them out the drone escapes.  But that is another reason to open them up from time to time...

Thank you, Michael.  I am planning on using the bottom mounted one, I think it will be less disruptive to the hive.  Next season, of course.

Offline JPBEEGETTER

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 195
  • Gender: Male
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #13 on: September 05, 2012, 01:09:21 pm »
Pollen traps are OK if you have a million bees , but every time a bee goes thru a small space it takes a little off their wings(damages) and makes them unable to fly in time , but if you need the pollen and not the bees go ahead, just my concern.. Joel.

Offline reinbeau

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 2504
  • Gender: Female
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #14 on: September 05, 2012, 02:04:24 pm »
Pollen traps are OK if you have a million bees , but every time a bee goes thru a small space it takes a little off their wings(damages) and makes them unable to fly in time , but if you need the pollen and not the bees go ahead, just my concern.. Joel.
Hmmm.  I've not heard that at all - do you have anything I could read about this?

Offline VolunteerK9

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 1647
  • Gender: Male
  • Gamecock fan in UT land.
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #15 on: September 05, 2012, 10:01:53 pm »
But did we ever figure out the paper clip dilemma?

Offline bernsad

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 462
Re: confusion about the pollen traps
« Reply #16 on: September 06, 2012, 06:52:06 am »
What about the conundrum of the bulldog clip?

 

anything