I went down to check and feed the bees tonight, there were several wasps buzzing around. I’ve closed most of the entrance, so it’s only got around 8 cm open, but i was concerned about them. i managed to see off a couple, but am worried about what i can do about it.
We recently had 2 big wasp nests in the roof above the front door, so because of where they were we had to get them destroyed couldn’t open any windows at the front of the house! and they kept stinging the neighbours…), but i don’t know where these buggers are coming from.
There have been various threads on this in the past. You can find them if you use the search feature - the little magnifying glass at the top right.
In the UK, I think @Dee uses Waspbane wasp traps, positioned away from the hive to lure the wasps away. I found this recommendation from a beekeeper in the UK, but I haven’t tried it:
I bought one of those £1 kids fishing nets - catch the wasps then squish em - they didn’t take kindly to it - one stung me and still sore and swollen today - gosh it really hurts
The hornets are going after my bees pretty good too. They hover just above the ground in my garden looking for wayward bees then swoop down on them and cut them in half. My hive entrance is small and the bees seem to be fighting them off.
Most of the traps I have bought or made have failed. What has worked is a sheet of that sticky paper used to trap mice or spiders. I stapled it to a board and put it close to the hive, far enough away that the bees don’t land on it but close to where the hornets dart all about. One gets stuck then another investigates the first one and it gets stuck and so on. I got at least 60 hornets on four sticky traps the first day. There were only 2 hornets in the 4 store bought Hornet traps.
The electric fly swatter does work too. When I sit and watch my hives my cheap Harbor Freight electric swatter kills quite a few hornets. But like Valli says they don’t take kindly to it. You need to make sure they are really dead not just stunned.
My plan is to get my traps out earlier next year to help keep the population down in the area around my hives and to keep my hives strong so they can fight back…
Ihad several of these out last summer as I couldn’t locate their nest. I think I caught maybe 10 over 3 months, approx 0.00005%, approx. , i.e not many…I wish it had worked as I know will have the same issue this year
Mmmm, not really experienced those, it’s the voracity of the European wasps, & their intelligence, once they work out where a food source is & how to get it, very hard to dissuade. They often hunt in small groups too.
Lol did make me chuckle! I only have the one, quite fledgling colony, but it seems to be doing ok at the moment. I’ve just reduced the entrance to around 7-8cm, so hopefully they will see them off…
Most of the store-bought traps I’ve bought have worked amazingly well - both the plastic cones with attractant and the sticky-goop hexagons. PILES of wasps and yellow jackets in each. I moved one of the cone-type traps closer to the hives (about 20 feet away), and will inspect tomorrow to see progress. But I’ve noticed the same as you…lots of wasps hovering close to the ground waiting for prey…and a few that are bold enough to approach the hive entrances, only to be rebuffed. I did close the entrances to about 3"…hoping that gives the girls a fighting chance!
I use a couple of plastic traps around my hive, and use a bait of jam and beer mixed - no, I don’t drink the beer! Wasps love it, and I catch dozens of the horrible blighted, including queens (boy, are they big). Unfortunately, we front onto parkland, and it is virtually impossible to find the nests. However, as we have lost two hives from wasp attack, I am super vigilant. Good luck.
i have 2 wasbanes hung up but wasps still coming round but going in hut were i have a few old frames so leaving hive alone so for me they are not really working
For those of you with screened bottom boards. Have you ever put a hand underneath and felt the warm air coming out? That’s laden with the smell of honey and is a huge attractant for wasps. Much more than a Waspbane trap. Now a wasp trap will catch wasps if you hang it in the middle of nowhere so yes it does attract them but the lure of the hive is much more heady. They can’t get in so then they try the trap and get caught. They can’t get out to communicate the source of the food to the rest of the colony so you catch fewer in a well designed trap than a bottle trap that lets a significant number of wasps out. They work for me. I have them by the entrances
oh wow ok - i will put some nearer the hives i think. they are working though - i have about a dozen wasps in the two traps already and they’ve only been out a few hours!!
Don’t put anything other than a Waspbane next to the hives; not home made traps. My Waspbanes have been out since the beginning of August and the fullest ones are maybe only a quarter full.
, i.e not many…I wish it had worked as I know will have the same issue this year
