I have felt guilty for not contributing to this discussion during the past
two weeks.  We have had some family illness that has taken an inordinate
amount of my time.  I think I have pretty good information on the design
history of today's bottom mount traps that I will share.  I will also give
you some thoughts on the other traps available.

I believe that the OAC trap is close to the improved design bottom trap made
by V. Shaparew during the 1970's.  Mr. Shaparew was a nuclear scientist who
immigrated to Canada from Russia.  Mr. Shaparew was a beekeeper and decided
that equipment could be considerably improved by incorporating known
principles of physics, most particularly having to do with air flow.  He
designed or re-designed several items of equipment, two of which continue
today.  Those are the bottom mount pollen trap and the Conical Bee Escape
Board.

Concerning the pollen trap, Mr. Shaparew's improvements were:
1. One way drone and bee escapes
2. Improved air circulation to reduce the amount of pollen deteriorating or
molding in humid conditions
3. Relief of congestion in the pollen stripping area
4. An easy and effective way of turning the trap "on" and "off", without
heavy lifting of the brood nest and supers.
5. A system to largely prevent rain water from entering the pollen
collection tray.

The OAG trap largely or wholly represents Mr. Shaparew's design. After
several years of use, beekeepers made modifications (improvements) to Mr.
Shaparew's design, which resulted in the traps first offered by Stauffer's
and, with further changes, in today's Sundance(tm) trap.  There are many
changes from the OAG design, some are minor and others significant.  In
summary, these are:
1. The weak spot of the Shaparew design was the pollen tray, with lacked
proper ventilation and was prone to rip when scraped with a hive tool or
placed on a jagged rock or branch.  The Sundance(tm) trap has a stainless
steel screen.  In demonstrations, we scrape this, hard, with a hive tool to
show that it will not cut or rip.
2. Much improved drone and bee escapes.  The escapes cannot be damaged by
skunks, falling hive covers, etc. or get clogged by dead drones.
3. A trap cover that prevents almost all hive debris, including dead varroa,
from getting into the pollen drawer.
4. Improved design of the stripper area to more evenly spread the stripped
pollen across the entire pollen tray, therefore increasing ventilation.

I know of three other bottom mount traps offered commercially.  As a pollen
collector, it is clear to me that these are not made by a beekeeper who
collects pollen!  Each has major deficiencies involving:
1. Ventilation to prevent pollen deterioration and molding
2. Congestion in the stripper screens that significantly reduce foraging
3. Drone escapes
4. Trap durability/life
5. Hive debris falling into the collected pollen

A pollen trap is a tool, and one that every beekeeper should have.  Like any
good tool, the Sundance(tm) is designed to do the job with high efficiency
(while protecting the integrity and health of the hive), and will last a
lifetime.  Like other tools, similar (but not at all equal) models can be
purchased for considerably less, and each is almost certainly worth the
money paid, and no more.  If measured in years or in pounds of pollen
collected, we believe the Sundance(tm) trap is considerably less expensive
than those with an initial cost that is 50% lower.

The trap sold by Stauffer is excellent.  However, as mentioned by others,
the wait time is very long.  The proprietor is Mennonite, and of a
conservative sect.  They use horse and buggy, no electricity and no gas or
diesel powered farm or wood working equipment.  He has a very large, young,
family supported solely by the sweat of his brow and perhaps fewer material
possessions than any member of this list.  If you want to purchase a trap or
traps for use in 2002, now is the time to send in an order.  However, I
think you will find his prices have substantially increased and may not be
significantly lower than those for Sundance(tm).  I hope so, as it has been
clear to me for some time that he was selling them at less than his
cost...assuming that a reasonable value was assigned to his time.

Several list members have asked for plans, and none have been forthcoming.
Perhaps none will be.  I have received numerous inquiries concerning whether
the Sundance(tm) design can be duplicated for private use, and willingly
agree.  I suggest that persons so inclined purchase one Sundance(tm) trap,
and disassemble it to copy.  Although we use glue as well as nails and
staples to assemble, the trap will come apart relatively easily of one is
careful.

Once disassembled, one will discover that the trap has 3 major
sub-assemblies, and a total of almost 40 separate parts.  To insure accuracy
and consistency of manufacture and gain speed, we use over 12 different
assembly jigs.  We do not have any plans or drawings, as the design has
evolved over time.  We rely on individual knowledge, and our jigs, to
produce a consistent product.

With regard to the price of a Sundance(tm) trap...Those of you who decide to
make one trap will find that it takes well over 40 hours.  If you then
decide to make another five traps, and cut all the parts at once, and make
up sub-assemblies and jigs, you may get the time down to 40-60 hours for
those five traps.  Further manufacture will advance the learning curve, and
further reduce the time per trap.  However, be prepared to be shocked at the
material cost, which will not materially decrease as you make more traps at
one time.

Depending on wood and wire supplies, we cut enough material to make 50-200
traps at one time.  We assemble 100 traps at a time, for the simple reason
that we do not have storage room for more.  That means putting together 300
sub-assemblies and then making those and other parts into the 100 traps.  If
we made 10 or even 25 traps at a time, at our present price, we would lose
money on every one.  So, if we are going to keep the price of a trap within
reason we have to make and assemble a lot at a time.  In order to do that,
we have to sell a lot.  In order to sell a lot, we have to sell through
dealers, who have the catalogs and staff necessary to sell retail.

Surprise, in order to sell through dealers they have to make some money!
They have to advertise (which we do also), pay for phones and electricity,
catalogs, clerks and warehouse people, cartons, etc.  All this adds up, and
results in today's prices.

I don't mind telling you that in 2000 we just broke even on Sundance(tm)
traps.  I hope we will do better in 2001.  But we also put several hundred
wonderful tools in the hands of beekeepers.  These will last a lifetime, and
that makes me feel good.

Finally, just a few words on the front-mount traps offered by a few dealers.
BEE CAREFUL.  You will principally get just what you pay for.  At a recent
meeting of the Ohio state organization, one beekeeper told me he purchased
25 such traps, and then spent over 100 hours on carpentry to get the traps
in decent shape.  While every beekeeper should collect some pollen, they are
in a Catch-22 when it comes to buying their first trap.  They may be tempted
to pay less than top price "because I really don't need to collect that much
pollen", but don't have enough experience to know what features to look for
and what flaws to avoid.  Many end up first buying an inexpensive trap,
being disillusioned, and then buying a proper trap.  In the end they spend
more than 150% of what they should have!

I hope I have been helpful.



Lloyd
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Lloyd Spear Owner, Ross Rounds, Inc.  The finest in comb honey production.
Visit our web site at http://www.rossrounds.com.