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Post by Leona on Aug 14, 2004 8:07:01 GMT -7
  I have been using pollen traps on some of my hives, and there seems to be a fairly strong local market here for fresh, local pollen. My questionis are -- has anyone had experience with trapping for pollen,? How much pollen do you usually collect from a given hive (in terms of pounds, or weeks that you leave the trap on..) Do you know how much energy I am diverting from the hive to collect pollen (ie since some of the workers are then divereted from nectar collection.) Has anyone had experience collecting pollen only at certain times? For instance the pollen collected when vetch was in bloom was chocolatey colored and very sweet & delicious in flavor. If I want to collect pollen for local sale, would it be best to choose the times I trap from the hive carefully and limit them to when I knew there was a tasty source? I don't want the pollen collection process to stress the hive as it goes into winter, and I am curious how much honey this activity is "costing" me. Thanks
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Post by Thom on Aug 14, 2004 16:05:00 GMT -7
I am going to let someone with more experience answer your questions, but I do want to mention that you should let the bees keep and store some of the pollen. That's where they get their protein. So hopefully your pollen traps have a way to let the bees bypass the screen. Also I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you keep one days worth and then you let them the next two days worth.
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Post by Brad Auten on Aug 25, 2004 7:28:41 GMT -7
Pollen Trappers,
I have commercially produced pollen for 22 years. In Arizona with our move to CA for almond pollination- and with that move we average about 20-25 lbs of pollen per year on a 1400 hive operation. If we move to the midwest (Nebraska or Minnesota) during the summer we are able to boost that to about 30 lbs. per year. Traps remain on the hives and we feed pollen substitute in Nov Jan Feb to sustain brood production during. Substitute is mixture of yeasts, sugars BeePro and natural pollens. Strong colonies eat the substitute and respond with brood. This keeps us from starving (protein) during dearths. The moving keeps the colony sustained on pollen flow. Wholesale price in AZ is about $4 per lb.
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