Hi Llyod, thanks for the informative post. I still have some questions to
ask. Lloyd Spear, who runs one of the truly great comb honey supply
companies says:

> Given that bees will not store a six-month supply of pollen, as they will
> nectar, all beekeepers should collect some pollen because:
>
> 1. At times of the year, pollen dearth's can occur.  These will result in
> cessation or substantial reduction of brood rearing, and may come when
> beekeepers are trying to expand the brood nest.  Feeding pollen patties is a
> quick easy way to maintain brood rearing.

<SNIP>

> 3. Most of us do not have to feed honey/syrup to get bees through the
> winter, as we can leave them with enough stores.  However, many hives do not
> carry enough pollen through the winter, and a pollen feeding in very early
> spring works wonders!  In fact, Tom Seeley feels that incoming pollen is
> what triggers brood expansion in the spring, and several scientists have
> documented the enormous beneficial effect of feeding spring pollen, as a
> matter of course.

If I understand you correctly and take my own experience into consideration,
pollen collection and storage in the hive is probably closely related to
ones seasonal climate and environment? My observation from my own hives has
never shown that the bees are not capable of gathering and storing pollen in
enough quantities for their year round use. Last week it warmed up to 40F
and I decided to look into a couple of my hives. In both hives, I found at
least 4-5 frames that had copious amounts of stored pollen and I could also
hold sealed honey frames up to the light and see cells that had pollen
stored under the honey.

This allows the bees to start raising brood in February, months before any
pollen will be available for collection. Once early spring hits, the pollen
starts flowing into the hive again and tapers off once the honey flow
starts. Again in fall the pollen picks up and plenty is stored away for
winter. I have never been able to go through one of my hives and not see
pollen stored in cells.

> After some 35 years I continue to learn beekeeping, and one of the most
> striking of my recent lessons has been how many commercial beekeepers
> regularly feed pollen or pollen+pollen supplements.  (Allen Dick has some
> great observations on this at his web site.)

I know Allen has shared a lot on this list about his practice of feeding
pollen or pollen substitutes but I interpreted that to mean his particular
area does not support an abundance of pollen at times when the bees need it
so supplemental feeding is done at certain times. I assume Allen will shed
more light on this. Is it true that even commercial beekeepers from
locations where pollen is available most of the year still practice pollen
feeding?

> So, IMHO all beekeepers should collect pollen for feeding.  Then there is
> the subject of eating and selling pollen.  Not selling pollen is leaving
> money in the streets...but I am tired of typing and that will be for later.

I think we both agree on the vital importance pollen plays in the health of
the colony. My concern still is whether or not it is routinely a good
practice to collect pollen from hives. Another concern with trapping is, if
we keep taking pollen from the bees as they are bringing it in, could this
not have a negative affect on the honey crop? If the bees are trying to
bring in pollen for their use in brood rearing and it keeps getting taken
away, won't they spend more of their time searching for pollen when they
could be collecting nectar? It seems like it can become a fairly elaborate
management style to take over _controlling_ the pollen supply to the bees.
Just some more of my wild thoughts.

For another POV, I found this. In the Volume 2, Number 8, August, 1984
edition of the Apis Newsletter by M.T. Sanford, there is the following
written on pollen trapping.

Thanks Llyod.

-Barry

----
POLLEN TRAPPING
Some promoters have suggested pollen trapping to be beneficial to a bee
colony. This is debatable at best. Dr. Dietz, at the University of Georgia
in his studies of honey bee-marsh interactions, believes that constant
trapping of pollen decreases population potential by as much as one-third in
some colonies. Steve Taber, retired from the Tucson Bee Laboratory, in
"Pollen and Pollen Trapping," American Bee Journal, Vol. 124 (7), July 1984,
pp. 512-513, says:

"If you put on pollen traps, you should expect certain hive problems that
you don't have without them. Don't hurt your bees. Don't force the bees into
a pollen deficient diet...My suggestion is that after trapping pollen for
two weeks, you should remove the traps for a week."
Finally, there is the question of the efficiency of trapping pollen from
bees. This varies considerably. A study by Canadians A. Tellier and U.
Soehngen, reported in the Cook-Dupage Beekeepers' Association Newsletter,
Vol. 39 (5), June 1984, evaluates several traps. According to the authors:

"The Efficiency of pollen traps varies from approximately 10% to 50%.
Efficiency is influenced by the uniformity of the openings in the trap,
differences in body sizes of the foragers (which may be considerable both
between and within colonies), and by the sizes of the pollen loads. In
addition, the number of openings in a trap influences the degree of crowding
within the trap, and consequently, it efficiency in collecting pollen. It is
apparent, therefore, that each colony-trap combination is unieque and that
an accurate determination of the efficiency of trap design, derived from
observations made on one colony-trap combination is impossible."
Their preliminary results (research is continuing) suggest the bottom
mounted Barrhead Pollen Trap (manufactured in Canada) to be superior in most
trials, providing the greatest quantity of clean pollen. The OAC (Ontario
Agricultural College) trap was rated poorest in pollen cleanliness. The
front mounted USDA Pollen Trap was second best in terms of pollen
production. In general, cleanliness of resulting pollen is not as good in
bottom mounted traps, which tend to collect all hive debris, but this is
offset by other advantages such as rear drawer removal, protection of
collected pollen from the weather and provision for escape of drones and
queens.

A design for a do-it-yourself bottom mounted trap was published by the
University of Illinois a few years back.