# Pollen Trap Comparisons



## JC (Jun 3, 2006)

I am thinking of purchasing a #509 front porch pollen trap from Bushy Mountain. http://www.beeequipment.com/products.asp?pcode=509

How does Brushy Mountain’s pollen tray compare with Dadant’s #M00682 cedar bottom pollen trap? https://www.dadant.com/catalog/popup_image.php?pID=718


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## kenpkr (Apr 6, 2004)

I have a bottom mounted Sundance pollen trap and it works very well- very clean pollen and easy to harvest. Trouble was it was at the bottom and harder to take off when I was finished harvesting pollen. I read last year that Sundance now has a top mounted pollen trap. This would be an even better product than the bottom mounted one.


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## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

I have both the bottom sundance traps and the cedar dadant you get cleaner pollen from the sundance I prefer the sundance over the dadant dont know anything about the brushy mountain trap


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## [email protected] (Aug 1, 2004)

*Comparison of pollen traps*

With some hesitation I will chime in on this. For those of you who do not know, my company produces the Sundance Pollen Traps. While I will try to be unbiased, some may want to stop reading now.

In the small world of pollen collectors, in the US and Internationally, any collector needs to be compared to the Sundance. As far as I know, and it is my business to know, none matches the Sundance in terms of collecting clean usuable pollen while minimizing interference with nectar collection and maintaining hive morale. Because we are beekeepers and the traps are continually improved as we discover better ways of collecting pollen, our collectors have features that others do not even think about. I think that other Bee Source contributors will concur that Sundance is the target that everyone has to aim at... 

For example, we recognize that even if the pollen is collected daily there will be times where an unexpected thunderstorm will come up when there is pollen in the traps. Our traps have THREE redundant designs to guard against water entering the trap. Others have NONE, so if water enters the trap the pollen is ruined and the beekeeper must clean up a soggy mess. There are several other similar examples.

Unfortunately, the features of the Sundance trap all come with an associated cost and the Sundance traps are the most expensive on the market. Some bee equipment suppliers think that they will sell more collectors if they can make them for less money, largely because most buyers cannot evaluate the differences between collectors. Brushy Mountain and Dadant are among those suppliers. Both formerly stocked the Sundance trap and then incorporated some, but not all, of the important Sundance design features into collectors they manufacture. But, hey, imitation is the highest form of flatterly...

So, if you want to save $20 or so, don't mind spending a lot of time cleaning pollen of debris, taking a chance on water entering your trap, periodically replacing the drawer screen, replacing the escape cones as mice do their nibbling, etc. then buy either trap. If you want to buy 'the best' tool that will last your lifetime, buy a Sundance.

thanks for listening,

Lloyd Spear


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## GaSteve (Apr 28, 2004)

I'll have to second that. I trapped about 30 pounds this year. With the exception of picking out the occasional ant or hive beetle, it goes straight from the trap to the freezer, then into the jars for sale. No muss no fuss.


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## dcross (Jan 20, 2003)

[email protected] said:


> I think that other Bee Source contributors will concur that Sundance is the target that everyone has to aim at...


Hee-hee-hee


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## Dick Allen (Sep 4, 2004)

Many of those "other" bottom mounted pollen traps do not have a debris board over their screen as Lloyd had designed in his Sundance model. I have some of those basic traps and the Sundance traps, too. After getting my first Sundance trap some years back, I modified my other traps by incorporating a debris board over the screen which resulted in much cleaner pollen.


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

Should I duck or wear camo Dave??


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## dcross (Jan 20, 2003)

You'd have to ask Lloyd!


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

You asked for a comparison of two traps. I wouldn't buy either. I'd buy the Sundance II. Since I have top entrances anyway, this works very easily and the pollen is even cleaner and the trap is even easier to put on or take off.


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## JC (Jun 3, 2006)

Michael Bush said:


> You asked for a comparison of two traps. I wouldn't buy either. I'd buy the Sundance II. Since I have top entrances anyway, this works very easily and the pollen is even cleaner and the trap is even easier to put on or take off.


Thanks! I'll buy the Sundance II pollen trap.

Next question: Do you collect most of your pollen in the fall or in the spring?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Thanks! I'll buy the Sundance II pollen trap.

Now if Lloyd would offer it in eight frame, I'd buy a bunch more...

>Next question: Do you collect most of your pollen in the fall or in the spring?

I don't collect a lot, but I like to do it after the chilly weather is over and before the main flow. Some people collect it all year.


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## paulnewbee1 (Jan 27, 2007)

Who sellls the sundance11 post the web site for us who are new
Thanks paul


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## kenpkr (Apr 6, 2004)

http://www.betterbee.com/products.asp?dept=655

https://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=762


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## JC (Jun 3, 2006)

Walter Kelley sells the Sundance Top Mount Trap (#67) for $48. Three pollen traps will fit into one box.


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## BayHighlandBees (Feb 13, 2012)

didn't mann lake used to sell Sundance? I don't see it in their latest catalog.


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