Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => TOP BAR HIVES - WARRE HIVES - LONG HIVES => Topic started by: SimonTurner on May 12, 2015, 04:31:26 am
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Does anyone know the hole size for pollen collectors for the African bee (Apis mellifera scutellata)?
The African bee is slightly smaller. (19mm) and the european collectors I have are not knocking the pollen off the back legs.
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In my experience, I think you would find that a standard pollen trap will work better with the smaller bees. They will still lose enough pollen to be useful but won't be as reluctant to go through the trap and not have to work as hard at it. But then my bees are small (4.9mm comb) and my pollen traps are doubled #5 hardware cloth with a gap between them (as I understand, what they call "coffee wire mesh" in Africa), Sundance brand traps and not the star shaped ones. Success and failure is all in the details...
Maybe the African bees are smarter and figured out how to move through it without losing their pollen...
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On every report on the differences between African and European bees, they all say you cannot tell the difference between them without a microscope. They measure, under the microscope, certain sections of the legs. Cell size makes more of a difference in the size of the bees. If yours are foundationless they would tend to bee smaller.
Jim