Karen, it helps when the gut contents are thick to dip the knife end in
clean water, and then mush the gut contents.  Then scrape off must of the
mush, and dilute until the pollen grains are well separated.  It is then
easy to see spores.

I suggest that you capture a returning pollen forager and make a slide of
its pollen load to confirm that what you are seeing is indeed maple pollen
(I have no idea as to what maple pollen looks like).

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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