Bad Year For Jaspers

[Millet]

The back of the hive was teeming with wasps trying the side and the omf. With the trap in place there is hardly a free flying wasp to be seen

I emptied this lot out and refilled the traps with fresh sugar syrup and warm larger..I have two traps and neither are near the hives this year..all colonies and nucs are playing with them Jaspers..but that is tunnels for Yee..

 

[Erichalfbee]

I emptied this lot out and refilled the traps with fresh sugar syrup and warm larger..I have two traps and neither are near the hives this year..all colonies and nucs are playing with them Jaspers..but that is tunnels for Yee..

Did you check that lot for Asian Hornets?

 

[Millet]

The wasps have now got a whiff of the sugar syrup in the rapid feeders..I cant remember spilling any but the yellow devil's where targeting one area..I sprayed airwick 5 in 1 over the area and put a trap at the spot which has caught loads up to now..luckily I have narrowed down tunnels and no wasp is getting past the guards..

 

[pargyle]

The wasps have now got a whiff of the sugar syrup in the rapid feeders..I cant remember spilling any but the yellow devil's where targeting one area..I sprayed airwick 5 in 1 over the area and put a trap at the spot which has caught loads up to now..luckily I have narrowed down tunnels and no wasp is getting past the guards..

Good old waspbane ... works a treat doesn't it ?

 

[Monbees]

Good old waspbane ... works a treat doesn't it ?

Couldn't agree more Pargyle, no apiary should be without one (at least)!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Not a whisker....or should that be antenna... of a wasp for a couple of weeks. One nuc was getting some attention so I put a wasp bane at the entrance and at the back. Job done

 

[Millet]

Not a whisker....or should that be antenna... of a wasp for a couple of weeks. One nuc was getting some attention so I put a wasp bane at the entrance and at the back. Job done

It is hit and miss here..one minute nothing then all hell breaks loose..i started feeding last week with no problem and now this..but like i mentioned them narrowed down tunnels are impenetrable for Jaspers..on the other hand my bee shed full of stacked extracted supers has been a constant magnet for them and the trap in there is also filling up nicely and to think i have had to empty and refill both..last year and years gone before the traps only ever needed emptying once when the frosts arrived for winter storage.

 

[boywonder]

OMG. I have so far held back from echoing what a bad year this has been for wasps. During the season, I managed to limit my losses to only one (weak) colony, with the help of a high efficacy trap (pic of captures attached).

The same trap has been helping to keep ongoing interest in two nucs to a minimum recently. These have late-mated Queens, and I am desperately keen to nurse them through the winter.

Anyhow, I went away for a few days last week, and returned to find one being plundered by wasps. There were a couple of hundred dead bees on the floor outside, and the number of bees inside was depleted. In an act of desperation, I yesterday moved the nuc to an out apiary. We'll see.

It's NOVEMBER ! What's going on ?? We have only had a couple of light frosts here, so I might understand if a few wasps were still feeding on the last dregs of syrup, but this was a full-on attack.... And, more curiously (to me at least), the wasps were chowing-down frenziedly on the bees themselves ... See attached video.

Why are they going after the protein at this time of year ?

I'm very much 'live and let live', but even I wish the little b*st*rds would just hurry up and die.

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Video: http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5dbe9932908c1/VID_20191102_142904_00.mp4

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Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

 

[bingevader]

It's still so mild.
I had no worries entering a hive last week to put some fondant on: it was 15°!!
Those wasps are hungry little things too, aren't they!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes still mild here
The wasp nest in a rathole at the bottom of the garden is still active.
I don’t think frost does much to wasps unless it’s really cold. They starve when food runs out

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Yes still mild here
The wasp nest in a rathole at the bottom of the garden is still active.
I don’t think frost does much to wasps unless it’s really cold. They starve when food runs out

same here - the wasp nest in SWMBO's bush is still going strong

only had a couple of nights of light ground frosts here

 

[Helen]

Last year, I had loads of problems with wasps. This year, although a lot around, no real issues with the bees. I added new style wasp entrances to nucs and hives, and they seem to work well. Also had wasp traps around the apiary - which didn't catch many, but maybe they were the ones I needed to catch to stop mass attack.



Couple of weeks ago, popped over to check the feed levels, and there were loads of wasps on the ivy flowers which surround the apiary. But none attacking the hives even when I popped the lids to add more food.



So a good year for me, re jaspers.

 

[Karol]

OMG. I have so far held back from echoing what a bad year this has been for wasps. During the season, I managed to limit my losses to only one (weak) colony, with the help of a high efficacy trap (pic of captures attached).

The same trap has been helping to keep ongoing interest in two nucs to a minimum recently. These have late-mated Queens, and I am desperately keen to nurse them through the winter.

Anyhow, I went away for a few days last week, and returned to find one being plundered by wasps. There were a couple of hundred dead bees on the floor outside, and the number of bees inside was depleted. In an act of desperation, I yesterday moved the nuc to an out apiary. We'll see.

It's NOVEMBER ! What's going on ?? We have only had a couple of light frosts here, so I might understand if a few wasps were still feeding on the last dregs of syrup, but this was a full-on attack.... And, more curiously (to me at least), the wasps were chowing-down frenziedly on the bees themselves ... See attached video.

Why are they going after the protein at this time of year ?

I'm very much 'live and let live', but even I wish the little b*st*rds would just hurry up and die.

Complex and dangerous picture I'm afraid.

Wasps set about a second procreative cycle in September meaning that they have brood late on in the year that still needs protein. The persistently wet weather has hampered their ability to hunt for insect prey which has had two knock on effects. The first is that the lack of insect prey especially larval forms means the brood is unable to produce enough carbs to sustain their adult population forcing adults to spend more time sweet feeding making hunting a more desperate activity. Under such conditions wasps will risk attacking beehives and indeed other wasp nests for protein. It's far more risky for wasps to attack bees rather than other defenceless insects but once they do the damage can be catastrophic. The video clip you provide is typical of how wasps 'ball' honeybees ready for feeding to brood. Sadly, sweet baited traps are of diminished help in this situation and it's the most dangerous time for weaker hives especially nucs. Moving the nuc is about the only thing that may help although if the nuc is marked with distress pheromone the wasps will likely find it again. Best of luck!