Back in the 1980s I trapped and sold bee collected pollen. I don’t have exact figures but we got about 4000 lbs a year from about 200 hives. I was running around 450 at the time. Honey production was about 40,000 pounds. We estimated the bees got half the pollen through the trap. Honey production was not affected but even if it were, pollen was worth ten times as much as the honey. This works out to about 20 pounds for us, 20 for them. I have since learned that bees regulate the amount of stored pollen. So it would appear that 20 pounds per year would be a plausible average. I think the range could be much higher. In San Diego the colonies were average sized, not as big as here in the north. One more thing, in San Diego pollen traps could be emptied weekly. Here in the humid climate daily is the rule. 

PLB 

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