A little warning

[Erichalfbee]

There ARE a lot of wasps around this year.
My strawberry patch is taking such a hammering it's dangerous to try to pick the fruit so I am leaving all the berries alone.All the plums have gone and most of the apples. I am having to keep the greenhouse doors and windows shut to protect the grapes.
My hives are all in a line with the prevailing wind blowing across them. I got traps out before I saw a wasp. Each hive has a trap with the cones at entrance level.
The most downwind trap is the one catching most of the wasps. I may have to replace it. Very few wasps are actually chancing the hive entrances.
So far so good.

 

[Karol]

Why not simply swop the leading trap with the trailing trap? That should help avoid the expense of replacing the lead trap with a new one!

 

[snelgrove]

I am in North East England and I must say wasps are about but no where near as bad as what has been described in this post. more of a problem is starting robbing in the apiaries and open mesh floors seem to encourage it when feeding.

 

[Fritillary]

I see I shouldn't squash wasps by the hive - thanks Karol - but certainly need to be learning a lot more about

the full suite of integrated wasp management measures that are required to protect hives

- The wasps are just too clever by half!, seem to have had a great year, and show no signs of fading out any time soon. Have been trying everything to help my smallest colony but obviously needed to start out earlier. Next year I must be better prepared...

 

[Karol]

Wasps are clever but they are largely predictable which means that they can be effectively controlled and the only time that it's too late to attempt to control wasps is when a hive has been entirely wiped out. There is no reason why disease free hives which have been decimated by wasps can't be saved provided that there is enough of a nucleus left to build on.

 

[Fritillary]

Thanks for the encouragement. Not that bad yet, in terms of results. They're more picking off dead and dying bees, mostly from underneath another, busy, hive and just doing a good job of finding their way in to stores I think. So far. - That's the thing.

(I think they found their way in through the hive's new hosepipe entrance I installed quicker than the bees inside found their way out!)

 

[Erichalfbee]

Why not simply swop the leading trap with the trailing trap? That should help avoid the expense of replacing the lead trap with a new one!

Doh!!!!!

 

[Karol]

Thanks for the encouragement. Not that bad yet, in terms of results. They're more picking off dead and dying bees, mostly from underneath another, busy, hive and just doing a good job of finding their way in to stores I think. <snip>

I was observing wasps today that were hunting which doesn't bode well as it means that the wasp problem hasn't peaked yet.

Interestingly there have been a couple of years where wasps that were sweet feeding reverted back to hunting as the queens laid a second round of sexual progeny. This is quite unusual and might explain the hunting behaviour that I observed. Perhaps it was just coincidence but in both of those years that we observed a second round of sexual progeny we suffered quite harsh and prolonged winters.

 

[bontbee]

I was observing wasps today that were hunting which doesn't bode well as it means that the wasp problem hasn't peaked yet.

Interestingly there have been a couple of years where wasps that were sweet feeding reverted back to hunting as the queens laid a second round of sexual progeny. This is quite unusual and might explain the hunting behaviour that I observed. Perhaps it was just coincidence but in both of those years that we observed a second round of sexual progeny we suffered quite harsh and prolonged winters.

I've noticed the same this year and wondered why wasps are still meat gathering. I didn't realise wasps could do two reproductive cycles. Winter weather forecast noted, just in case...

 

[Hivemaker.]

I say that because you shouldn't have to resort to killing individual wasps at a hive in a bid to protect the hive which is almost always counter productive because the squished wasps will produce alarm/distress pheromone which will only work to precipitate frenzied feeding and draw even more wasps into the vicinity of your hives giving rise to a vicious positive feedback loop.

I am guessing this only applies to squashed wasps, is that correct?

 

[Karol]

It can be quite a confused picture. Different species will mature at different times and this can be quite weather dependant. So for example high level nesters may mature more quickly than low level nesters if weather is relatively damp and changeable (i.e. air temperatures rise whilst the ground stays relatively cool). Inappropriate nest treatments can generate premature sweet feeding wasps (by preventing access to food within the nest). Sweet feeding wasps will kill honey bees to extract nectar from their crop giving the impression that they are still hunting and to cap it off wasps might go into a second round of sexual progeny and start hunting again proper. And just to finish off all of the above won't necessarily happen in isolation so for example you might see sweet feeding wasps from one species kill bees for nectar whilst wasps from another species are killing bees for protein because they still have brood in the nest. The life cycle of hornets for example tends to trail behind that of wasps as hornets are specialist hunters of wasps (and of course bees).

Anyway, the important thing is to remain vigilant especially as naturally occurring sweet food sources decline into the fall and early winter so making hives more attractive.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Anyway, the important thing is to remain vigilant especially as naturally occurring sweet food sources decline into the fall and early winter so making hives more attractive.

I find that the wasps pay far less attention to the hives of bees when the ivy starts to flower (which it is just starting here) they are just as busy foraging on the ivy as the bees, and this goes on flowering into late October or even up until mid December some years.

 

[Karol]

I am guessing this only applies to squashed wasps, is that correct?

Not quite as simple as that. It applies to 'distressed' wasps. So for example wasps predated by hornets will emit distress pheromone which is why I caution against the use of integral traps built within hives because they have the potential to attract more wasps and cause more distress and anxiety in the bees in the hive which then also start secreting their own alarm pheromone which just serves to make things really intolerable. Similarly wasps killed (as opposed to repelled) by bees also emit distress pheromone.

The thing about squashing wasps is that generally this requires a 'hard' surface which tends to be the hive. In this situation (and where bees kill as opposed to repel wasps) the hive gets a coating of wasp alarm pheromone which becomes a fixed homing beacon that attracts any wasps that cross the scent plume which are then guided by the pheromone straight to the hive. Squashing wasps on a hive should be avoided at all costs otherwise it can precipitate 'frenzied' feeding which can be calamitous within a very short space of time indeed. And the added problem with wasp alarm pheromone contamination of a hive is that moving the hive to try to avoid wasp attack fails because wasp navigation to the hive ceases to be driven geographically and instead is driven sensually.

To put that in a nutshell. If wasps are swarm (but not frenzied) feeding on a source of food, it is possible to move that food source to another location and the wasps will not follow. Instead they will continue to visit the original location still expecting to find the food source in that location. With frenzied feeding when the food source is moved the wasps then follow the food source to the new location (or if it is moved out of the navigational vicinity of the existing location i.e. more than three miles, then wasps in the new vicinity that cross the scent trail are immediately drawn to the hive giving the appearance that the original wasps have followed the relocated food source).

With swarm feeding it is therefore possible to use dynamic trapping techniques which can be extremely effective (sorry can't show you the evidence because of forum rules), i.e. virtually resolve what might appear to be an intractable wasp problem within the space of little more than an hour. Frenzied feeding is a lot harder to deal with but it is still possible to save hives (assuming they are disease free) given the will and right strategies/techniques.

 

[Karol]

I find that the wasps pay far less attention to the hives of bees when the ivy starts to flower (which it is just starting here) they are just as busy foraging on the ivy as the bees, and this goes on flowering into late October or even up until mid December some years.

I agree with that. It's always going to be high risk for wasps to attack a hive which they only do out of desperation. Wasps will find the path of least resistance wherever they can and ivy provides a bountiful supply of low risk nectar. That said, the time to be really diligent is when the ivy stops flowering because if the weather is still mild when it does stop flowering (second week of November) then there may be a significant wasp population remaining that is suddenly forced into desperation to attack hives which become the very last source of 'naturally' occurring sugar. If the bees are already clustering by then then the hive can be robbed out in a matter of hours without much evidence of a struggle as the bees continue to coalesce around their cluster and not prevent entry into the hive or defend the exposed food source. The end result is an unexpectedly starved out hive with the bee keeper scratching their head as to why the food they laid down didn't last.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I ask because of the few wasps in front of the hives, which the bees have killed, plenty of wasps around... many hives still have full size entrances, would of expected to see hundreds of dead wasps at the entrances which had been killed by the bees if the wasps were homing in on the pheromones left by the dead wasps, could the reason be that our apiaries tend to have a quite lot of hives in them at this time of year, often upwards of fifty hives, and similar numbers of mini nucs, spoilt for choice, so they don't home in on any one hive in particular when they are in these kind numbers.

 

[Karol]

I ask because of the few wasps in front of the hives, which the bees have killed, plenty of wasps around... many hives still have full size entrances, would of expected to see hundreds of dead wasps at the entrances which had been killed by the bees if the wasps were homing in on the pheromones left by the dead wasps, could the reason be that our apiaries tend to have a quite lot of hives in them at this time of year, often upwards of fifty hives, and similar numbers of mini nucs, spoilt for choice, so they don't home in on any one hive in particular when they are in these kind numbers.

Great question!

I suspect that if you observe closely you will see that the majority of wasps killed by bees tend to die at the doorstep to the hive, i.e. on the ground in front of the hive (rather than on or in the hive itself). Moreover, the method by which the bees kill the wasps also plays a part. If the bees kill the wasps by clustering (i.e. raising temperature above 40°C) then this will also denature the distress pheromone which is not very stable (and is relatively short acting) thereby reducing the level of 'draw'. It also means that dying wasps at the foot of the hive will attract wasps to the ground around the hive and not specifically to the landing stage which is where most bee keepers tend to squish wasps.

It is very much a numbers game so I concur that if you have a large number of hives in an apiary then the effect will be diluted and wasps will find it hard to concert an attack if there is alarm pheromone coming from all quarters. Alarm pheromone is a 'pin point' attractant which loses its functionality over wide spread areas so if you've got 50 off hives per apiary all potentially emitting alarm pheromone then wasps are likely to arrive at the apiary and then become confused as they find it difficult to follow a specific scent trail.

We have seen this effect in other situations as well. For example at a particular sugar refinery there's a 2 acre hard standing which gets contaminated with vast quantities of spilled sugar that gets wet and soaks into the hard standing creating a massive 'sugar pan'. Millions of wasps are attracted to the sugar pan but once they arrive they become confused because there is no concentration gradient for them to follow to the food source as the air is completely saturated with the smell of sugar. (Makes it virtually impossible to catch them as well!).

 

[Hivemaker.]

Thank you for sharing your expert knowledge, Karol, interesting, helpful and educational as always in your posts about wasps.

The beekeeping section of this website is also very helpful.
http://www.waspbane.com/

 

[Fritillary]

Many thanks Karol, and Hivemaker!

 

[user 6228]

I agree with that. It's always going to be high risk for wasps to attack a hive which they only do out of desperation. Wasps will find the path of least resistance wherever they can and ivy provides a bountiful supply of low risk nectar. That said, the time to be really diligent is when the ivy stops flowering because if the weather is still mild when it does stop flowering (second week of November) then there may be a significant wasp population remaining that is suddenly forced into desperation to attack hives which become the very last source of 'naturally' occurring sugar. If the bees are already clustering by then then the hive can be robbed out in a matter of hours without much evidence of a struggle as the bees continue to coalesce around their cluster and not prevent entry into the hive or defend the exposed food source. The end result is an unexpectedly starved out hive with the bee keeper scratching their head as to why the food they laid down didn't last.

So we have another reason to insulate, To keep the bees fighting hot until the wasps are done.

 

[bjosephd]

Anyone had much experience of a device like this?

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTAwWDE2MDA=/z/-J0AAOSwu4BVyffZ/$_57.JPG

Takes a while for the bees to work it out, I've one hive where they seem to get it, and another hive where I took it off after it seemed to continue to confuse the hell out of them.

But from my observations, I've not seen any wasps go in the one with the guard on. Sadly the one without the guard was the one that consistently had a good 30 or so wasps hanging out under the mesh floor (I've now tried to close up the space under he hive to stop them hanging out under there).

These two colonies were very late to get going due to queenlessness and so I'm desperately trying to get them to get their numbers up and firing on all cylinders.

This thread is making somewhat paranoid that whatever happens I'm gonna have a massive and continuous wasp raid and get wiped out.

One hive is in the orchard, the other is over the road. I wonder if all the apples are bad news and attract wasps... OR they are a good sweet and easy distraction?

Anywho... thoughts on the wasp guard?