Nicot Pollen Trap Tunnel for Ventilated Plastic Floor

01 · YOU NEED TWO PARTS

The tunnel and the drawer

The tunnel is only half the system: on its own it knocks the pollen off but does not collect it. Underneath there has to be the NICOT pollen drawer, sold separately, which is what holds the harvest. It is the first thing to check when ordering, because without the drawer the pollen ends up on the floor of the hive.

02 · HOW IT TAKES THE POLLEN

Underneath, and twice

Coming home, the bee passes under the tunnel and then, of necessity, through the 5.1 mm grid. The loads come off before and after she crosses the holes, fall through the ventilation holes in the floor and end up in the drawer. The perforated section is cut to the exact length of the drawer, so no pollen is lost off the sides.

03 · THE DRONE ESCAPES

Two 9 mm holes at the ends

A drone does not fit through 5.1 mm, and a trapped male ends up blocking the grid. That is why the tunnel has two 9 mm escapes at the ends: uncover one and the drones leave that way without spoiling the harvest. It is the detail that separates a pollen trap that works for a week from one that jams on the second day.

04 · ON AND OFF IN A MINUTE

With a hive tool

It sits on the full-ventilation floor and comes off by levering with one or two hive tools. That ease is what lets you work the way you should: a pollen trap goes on in stints, during a good flow, and comes off again — because it is taking protein from the colony. And the drawer is emptied every 24 hours: in heat and damp, pollen moulds the same day.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It needs the NICOT pollen drawer, sold separately, and it is specific to NICOT full-ventilation floors: it does not fit other makes.