Bad Year For Jaspers

[Millet]

I always get wasps being a nuisance around the hives and garden but never this early in the year..i must have killed 30+ upto now buzzing around my face while having a cold one sat in the garden..i am also seeing on going battles with the bees and wasps as soon as the hives are opened up..i'm afraid the traps will be out of the garage on Wednesday to knock the numbers down a little..
Anyone else having any earlier than normal problems with the horrible little things..

 

[Erichalfbee]

Not here
Still nest building.

 

[thedozzer]

I always get wasps being a nuisance around the hives and garden but never this early in the year..i must have killed 30+ upto now buzzing around my face while having a cold one sat in the garden..i am also seeing on going battles with the bees and wasps as soon as the hives are opened up..i'm afraid the traps will be out of the garage on Wednesday to knock the numbers down a little..
Anyone else having any earlier than normal problems with the horrible little things..

Have had to destroy three wasps nest within 100ft of the hives so far, One in the eves of the roof in the facia board and there are still a lot of wasps about, they have been a real pain to Nuc with the little swarm that showed up and there is quite a bit of fighting with the strong colonies, they were just clearing up under the hive of the dead bees but are starting to hawk the flying ones.

One strong colony has turned wasps into a game, wait until a wasp is just about to go under the hive, jump of landing board and land on wasps back balling it to the ground, see this happen with a lot of the wasps stupid enough to go near that hive, and the bees look to be actively hunting the wasps under the hive as well. but we can still have a cup of tea a few feet away so they are very finely tuned to wasps.

We have had the wasp traps out for 2 weeks and have had a few in already, but the volume of the little yellow b@a$tards tells me my Greengage crop is going to be ruined again like last year.

 

[Millet]

Not here
Still nest building.

Still nest building here using my bee shed door to make the nests bigger..if they left me and the bees alone i would do the same but even my nice bees are a bit twitchy at the moment through the little yellow devils putting them on high alert..

 

[Karol]

<snip>

We have had the wasp traps out for 2 weeks and have had a few in already, but the volume of the little yellow b@a$tards tells me my Greengage crop is going to be ruined again like last year.

Three things:

If you destroy wasp nests when they are in their hunting phase you risk converting the surviving (like as not majority) of foragers converting to sweet feeding which will extend your nuisance wasp season.

If you use the wrong design of traps you will only increase the number of wasps in the vicinity you are trying to protect.

If you use the correct design of trap and follow good integrated wasp management practice you should be able to largely protect your Greengage crop.

 

[maz0]

Three things:

If you destroy wasp nests when they are in their hunting phase you risk converting the surviving (like as not majority) of foragers converting to sweet feeding which will extend your nuisance wasp season.

If you use the wrong design of traps you will only increase the number of wasps in the vicinity you are trying to protect.

If you use the correct design of trap and follow good integrated wasp management practice you should be able to largely protect your Greengage crop.

Whats the correct design of trap? I'm using the cut-up cola bottle method at the moment and it's effective. I place it at the back of the hives and catch lots of wasps and no bee's. Seems like the wasps go round back looking for a way in....

I'd be keen to know how some of you track down the nests!

 

[Millet]

I'd be keen to know how some of you track down the nests!

It is by a stroke of luck finding the nests..it is just a case of stumbling across them with the ones i have found.

 

[Karol]

Whats the correct design of trap? I'm using the cut-up cola bottle method at the moment and it's effective. I place it at the back of the hives and catch lots of wasps and no bee's. Seems like the wasps go round back looking for a way in....

I'd be keen to know how some of you track down the nests!

Designs will vary. However, the critical thing is to ensure that no wasps escape. Most home made traps allow wasps to enter, feed and escape allowing the escapees to recuit more wasps into the vicinity of the trap thereby only serving to make the problem worse. It takes time and patience to observe trap performance. Most people are fooled into thinking that killing lots of wasps is a sign of an effective trap. It isn't. Quite the opposite actually. High kill numbers associated with a lot of wasp activity around the trap are usually an indicator of a low efficiency trap.

 

[maz0]

Designs will vary. However, the critical thing is to ensure that no wasps escape. Most home made traps allow wasps to enter, feed and escape allowing the escapees to recuit more wasps into the vicinity of the trap thereby only serving to make the problem worse. It takes time and patience to observe trap performance. Most people are fooled into thinking that killing lots of wasps is a sign of an effective trap. It isn't. Quite the opposite actually. High kill numbers associated with a lot of wasp activity around the trap are usually an indicator of a low efficiency trap.

Do you have a design you could share with us? I'm interested in state of the art wasp trapping now that I've had a taste of it

 

[enrico]

Put this into Google .....
Volwco 16Pcs Wasp Traps Catcher, DIY Homemade Wasp Catcher, Yellow Jackets Traps, Hornets Trap For Outdoors, Bugs Control In Home Garden - Effective & Reusable
They are 6.99 for them. They push into a plastic bottle and are brilliant. Pour an inch of high alcohol cider into the bottle and refill every few days. Can't fault them
E

 

[thedozzer]

Three things:

If you destroy wasp nests when they are in their hunting phase you risk converting the surviving (like as not majority) of foragers converting to sweet feeding which will extend your nuisance wasp season.

We use Digrain direct into the nest and always at dusk when most of the foragers should have returned so the percentage mortality is normally quite high.

If you use the wrong design of traps you will only increase the number of wasps in the vicinity you are trying to protect.

We use a Fatal Funnel style trap with a small hole so no hornets are harmed, and have sat and watched for quite a few hours and out of the 5 traps set around the garden have never seen a wasp escape, but the funnel is 2/3 of the way up the trap so no top escape. they seem to work well.

If you use the correct design of trap and follow good integrated wasp management practice you should be able to largely protect your Greengage crop.

the problem for us is the area we live in is semi rural and the houses are predominantly 1905 -1915 period with many dilapidated outbuildings and my bother in law has had 5 nests in his house and has had the exterminator round. and one of the nests i have destroyed was in the neighbours, so the number of nest within a small radius is quite considerable.

 

[thedozzer]

Put this into Google .....
Volwco 16Pcs Wasp Traps Catcher, DIY Homemade Wasp Catcher, Yellow Jackets Traps, Hornets Trap For Outdoors, Bugs Control In Home Garden - Effective & Reusable
They are 6.99 for them. They push into a plastic bottle and are brilliant. Pour an inch of high alcohol cider into the bottle and refill every few days. Can't fault them
E

Just a cheaper version of the Fatal Funnel we use, they work really well and the wasps don't appear to escape.

 

[Woodland bees]

They are 6.99 for them. They push into a plastic bottle and are brilliant. Pour an inch of high alcohol cider into the bottle and refill every few days. Can't fault them
E

Well you do waste a glug of cider.

On a serious note do they trap hornets and/or moths/butterflies? I'd rather just catch troublesome wasps.

 

[Millet]

Put this into Google .....
Volwco 16Pcs Wasp Traps Catcher, DIY Homemade Wasp Catcher, Yellow Jackets Traps, Hornets Trap For Outdoors, Bugs Control In Home Garden - Effective & Reusable
They are 6.99 for them. They push into a plastic bottle and are brilliant. Pour an inch of high alcohol cider into the bottle and refill every few days. Can't fault them
E

I like the look of them..do you think they would work by cutting a circle out the side of a bottle and gluing them on as i have an idea for using them on a 2ltr pop bottle upside down into a Tupperware tub.

 

[Walrus]

I always get wasps being a nuisance around the hives and garden but never this early in the year..i must have killed 30+ upto now buzzing around my face while having a cold one sat in the garden..i am also seeing on going battles with the bees and wasps as soon as the hives are opened up..i'm afraid the traps will be out of the garage on Wednesday to knock the numbers down a little..
Anyone else having any earlier than normal problems with the horrible little things..

They are just beginning to hassle my hives/nucs. Going to put traps out soon.

 

[enrico]

I like the look of them..do you think they would work by cutting a circle out the side of a bottle and gluing them on as i have an idea for using them on a 2ltr pop bottle upside down into a Tupperware tub.

You don't need to cut a hole, just cut a cross and the trap pushes in to the cuts and stays there. . You could glue it though!
E

 

[Beefriendly]

No need to buy wasp traps....
I've been using rapid feeders with a mixture of raspberry jam and cider.
This was the result of about 8 hours trapping on one day. Only thing you need to do is put lid on overnight as to avoid moths and the like.

These blighters were invading my evening G&T spot...after spitting a couple out I decided enough was enough. A couple of these traps cured the problem.

 

[Helen]

Spotted a number of small wasps buzzing around the hives last weekend.

Put in the wasp entrances (tunnel entrances) on 2 hives - need to make up a few more for the others.

 

[Millet]

No need to buy wasp traps....
I've been using rapid feeders with a mixture of raspberry jam and cider.
This was the result of about 8 hours trapping on one day. Only thing you need to do is put lid on overnight as to avoid moths and the like.

These blighters were invading my evening G&T spot...after spitting a couple out I decided enough was enough. A couple of these traps cured the problem.

I want to be reincarnated as a wasp....

 

[maz0]

No need to buy wasp traps....
I've been using rapid feeders with a mixture of raspberry jam and cider.
This was the result of about 8 hours trapping on one day. Only thing you need to do is put lid on overnight as to avoid moths and the like.

These blighters were invading my evening G&T spot...after spitting a couple out I decided enough was enough. A couple of these traps cured the problem.

Are they dead or drunk?