Of Mice And Mesh... (sorry, Steinbeck!)

My notes are headed with the name "Lloyd Spear", who used to make and sell the Sundance Pollen Traps before he retired, so my guess is that he was answering questions about his pollen traps and the use of various sizes of mesh in them.

8 mesh - 8 squares to the inch - used on the bottom (only) of pollen traps to prevent mouse access. Much less expensive than 7 mesh. Some pollen grains are too large to fit through 8 mesh.

7 mesh - workers cannot get through.  Keeps bees from getting to pollen in the drawer, but allows pollen to fall through, used ABOVE drawer.

6 mesh - Workers can get through 6 mesh, but it removes too much pollen.

5 mesh - Bees readily pass through it. Will remove 40%-60% of the pollen on the bees legs. No removal of body-hair pollen. Drones and queens cannot get through.

4 mesh - "1/4 inch hardware cloth" Both Queens and Drones can get through.

To misquote Stan Laurel, "This is a fine mesh you've gotten us into..."

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