Pollen collector for anel bottom

01 · TWO PER FLOOR

The first thing to know

Each ANEL floor needs two sets, one on each side of the entrance, and here it is sold singly. If you are fitting four hives, that is eight. It is the sum that saves the most disappointment when ordering.

02 · THE GRID

The same holes as the classic ANEL trap

The grid the bees walk through has the same hole shape as the original ANEL pollen trap: the loaded forager goes in and drops part of her pollen loads without the passage damaging her legs. The pollen falls into the collecting drawer, and the drawer opens and closes from the front — you empty it without moving the hive or opening anything.

03 · EMPTY IT DAILY

Fresh pollen does not wait

Freshly gathered pollen carries a lot of moisture and, in a warm drawer, moulds within hours. The rule is to empty it every 24 hours; in dry areas with the drawer in the shade you can stretch to 48, no more. And from there, straight to the freezer or the drier: that is what decides whether you have pollen or a problem.

04 · WHEN TO TAKE IT OFF

It does not stay on all year

A pollen trap takes away part of the protein coming into the colony, so it goes on in stints, during a good pollen flow, and comes off again. Outside those stints the grid is moved aside and the floor works normally. And there are colonies where it does not go on at all: weak or sick ones, colonies requeening, or colonies short on stores need every scrap of pollen they can bring in.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

You need two units per floor and it is sold loose. It is specific to ANEL floors: it does not fit other makes.