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« Last post by Michael Bush on September 20, 2023, 06:37:48 am »
Somewhere I have a regular Sundance trap. I have several Sundance II traps. I have built a few traps over the years. Here are some observations:
You need some sort of drone escape. The ones on the Sundance II and Sundance work very well in that they also serve as a worker escape. Workers quickly learn to exit through them as it is much quicker and easier than exiting through the #5 screen wire. You can get by by just drilling one 3/8" hole as the escape, but you will lose pollen as the workers will try to use it but you'll get some as the traffic jam at that hole will force a lot of bees to use the trap. This will also be less efficient than the drone escapes as the traffic jam, again, will slow down the exiting workers.
You need the bees to enter through a #5 (aka 1/5" aka coffee cloth) hardware cloth. This is the same size used by coffee processors to sort coffee beans. Usually available mail order at least but then often only in a full roll. Some of the US bee supply vendors sell it in smaller lengths. Under the #5 and over the catch drawer you need a #7 hardware cloth. This is the right size for the pollen to fall through and keep bees out. #8 (1/8") is too small for it to freely fall down. #6, the bees will wiggle their way through. You need window screen on the drawer bottom to keep the pollen from molding.
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