Apishield - wasp or hornet trap floor

[alanf]

I saw the new Apishield hornet trap in April Beecraft, p44 but details on the Vita web site if you don't get the mag. It appears to be marketed as an Asian Hornet trap, but claimed to be effective against wasps, robber bees, even wax moths.

Interesting idea, anybody aware of anything along those lines before? I mean using the bee hive as bait but with cones and alternative false entrances to attract and trap pests. Nicely constricted bit of woodwork with a below floor Dartington style entrance and a trap box below and to the rear. Can't see any for sale online which would give a price but doesn't look cheap. How difficult would it be to retro fit something similar to an existing floor?

Add: timing of marketing odd, it seems to have missed the big annual catalogues and some of the trade exhibitions, maybe delayed?

 

[Hivemaker.]

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28116&highlight=Apishield+hornet+trap ...

 

[DulwichGnome]

"with no on-going costs makes it a highly economical investment"

From their web site, http://www.vita-europe.com/products/apishield-hornet-trap/

If you have to ask the price ......

 

[Brian Bush]

I talked to the suppliers at Bee Tradex. The price was in the region of £70. I made a quick calculation and reckoned I would need to spend around £1000. They hope the price will fall with a growing market. I felt they were just testing the waters. It is quite an elaborate design and current manufacturing costs must be quite high.

 

[alanf]

I talked to the suppliers at Bee Tradex. The price was in the region of £70. I made a quick calculation and reckoned I would need to spend around £1000. They hope the price will fall with a growing market. I felt they were just testing the waters. It is quite an elaborate design and current manufacturing costs must be quite high.

Any marketing push from Vita would involve the big write up in Beecraft and a suggestion that distributors ought to get stock on the shelves of their online site or shop.

Yet I can't find it on the websites of any of their listed "distributors". Many probably only carry some Apiguard, but I'd expect the big suppliers to pile in if they thought it would sell. I suspect they think not. That or there are supply problems. As you say, it does look like no more than testing the waters.

Actually it didn't take long to turn up this: http://www.beekeeping.com/articles/us/flying_intruders.htm Seems it's not the first attempt to market the device (or it's mark 1 version called the "Apiburg"). Testing in 2002 means it has been around a while. Looks like the Greek patent owners are having another go before the patent expires, this time associating it with the Asian Hornet, not an insect the earlier trap would be seeing. If it works I wish them well, but a simpler design to hang under an existing mesh floor would probably sell a lot better.

 

[keith pierce]

it will also trap your bees

 

[Hivemaker.]

it will also trap your bees

Have you used one?

 

[Brian Bush]

[ Looks like the Greek patent owners are having another go before the patent expires, this time associating it with the Asian Hornet, not an insect the earlier trap would be seeing. If it works I wish them well, but a simpler design to hang under an existing mesh floor would probably sell a lot better.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the memory jog, Hivemaker. They said that it had been widely tested in Greece and now France.

 

[Brian Bush]

it will also trap your bees

he sellers said that for the first few days under the hive the cone traps have to be closed to limit the possibility of trapping the bees. After that it was OK.

 

[keith pierce]

Have you used one?

No, but I was talking to the sales rep and he said that it will trap any robber or scout bees that are investigating the unprotected entrance

 

[johnandyrob]

After listening to Prof. Stephen Martin at the Northern of England beekeepers Convention the floors are targeting the wrong species of hornet.

 

[Hivemaker.]

After listening to Prof. Stephen Martin at the Northern of England beekeepers Convention the floors are targeting the wrong species of hornet.

Targeting the wrong species of hornet where?

 

[Hivemaker.]

No, but I was talking to the sales rep and he said that it will trap any robber or scout bees that are investigating the unprotected entrance

The sales rep uses these floors does he, or just sells them?

I guess there are some down sides, not a bad thing catching robber bees though, better than them robbing colonies out, although rarely get any problems with robbing, do you get much of a problem with robbing bees Keith.

I think i would need to weigh up the good and bad points of these floors by trying them, when the Asian Hornets arrive, if they are as bad as they are made out to be, would it be better to lose entire colonies to the Asian Hornets, or use the floors and trap them, plus a few bees, in exchange for the survival of entire colonies.

 

[johnandyrob]

Targeting the wrong species of hornet where?

The Hornet that is in France and may soon be here is Vespa Velutina Nigrithorax This species of Hornet does not enter the hive it hawks bees returning to the hive. The Hornet that kills all the flying bees then enters the hive is veapa Mandarinia japonica. There for the floor targets the wrong species of Hornet

 

[Hivemaker.]

The Hornet that is in France and may soon be here is Vespa Velutina Nigrithorax This species of Hornet does not enter the hive it hawks bees returning to the hive. The Hornet that kills all the flying bees then enters the hive is veapa Mandarinia japonica. There for the floor targets the wrong species of Hornet

Thank you, John, so really there is never likely to be a real problem with these Hornets when they get here any way, no different than our European Hornets with regards taking bees, so no traps of any kind will be needed, same as they are not really needed for wasps.

Edit....doubt these floor traps would catch many of them anyway if they do not go near the hives very much, never notice the European Hornets round the hives, or trying to enter them, more on the outskirts of the Apiaries, or in the back of my truck, lots of these Hornets around here, bumbles and wasps do hang around the hives though, and try and get in.

 

[Goran]

European hornets come around hives, mostly targeting bees returning into hives or bees standing at the entrance. Even standing on the hive wall and choosing the prey. Sometimes it get carried away and bees get it and ball it to death on the landing board.
Also I watch them how they ambush bees on water sources ( which sometimes get me annoying when they constantly whole day atack and I have to be more creative to reduce the atacks) and flying around flowers and atack bees there.
Today I saw first european hornet this season.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Today I saw first european hornet this season.

I think they are lovely creatures, i feed them, here one is having some fondant in the back of my truck and the other is tucking into a nice juicy bee in a Leylandii hedge.

 

[johnandyrob]

Thank you, John, so really there is never likely to be a real problem with these Hornets when they get here any way, no different than our European Hornets with regards taking bees, so no traps of any kind will be needed, same as they are not really needed for wasps.

Edit....doubt these floor traps would catch many of them anyway if they do not go near the hives very much, never notice the European Hornets round the hives, or trying to enter them, more on the outskirts of the Apiaries, or in the back of my truck, lots of these Hornets around here, bumbles and wasps do hang around the hives though, and try and get in.

Apparently they are smaller than the European Hornet making them better at taking bees on the wing. They are more of a problem but im sure some of the french members have said they are not as bad as news papers say they are.

 

[johnandyrob]

The problem is that Vespa Crabro has a colony numbering in the hundreds Vespa velutina Nigrithorax colony's are much larger having thousands of workers. Because of that they pose a bigger problem for beekeepers especially if you have a nest right next to a site with a single hive.

 

[Erichalfbee]

doesn't look cheap. How difficult would it be to retro fit something similar to an existing floor?

Vita say it traps wasps.
I'm getting husband to have a look at the chap demonstrating it on the website video (he doesn't know yet......I'll have to choose my time )
It looks quite copyable if you have a little woodworking skill. Might try one in late summer.