Cheap way to stop wasps

[Gilberdyke John]

Would make a good mouse guard as well I assume?

Ed

It likely to be ok until the first mouse discovers how easy plastic is to chew holes in.

 

[oliver90owner]

[QUOTE ... my under floor entrance hives have a carpet of dead wasps on the floor underneath which has made me stop making them...[/QUOTE]

Dead wasps are not a problem. It is the wasps which get in, get fed, leave - and then bring more of their fellow wasps from the colony to rob out the bees. Reduced protected entrances are perfectly adequate for any colony strong enough to defend against the above.

Once the wasps gain free entry and exit, the game is up for the colony.

 

[Karol]

Not quite. That's where dynamic trapping comes into it's own. The caveat being that a high efficiency trap needs to be used. The technique is relatively simple but depends on the residual strength of the affected hive. The technique assumes that a tunnel entrance has been fitted. If the hive is relatively strong, seal the entrance before the bees start to fly and place a high efficiency wasp trap right at the entrance to the hive so that the entrance to the trap is literally only a few centimeters away from the blocked hive entrance. The high efficiency trap should catch and retain all of the wasps swarm feeding at the hive by mid day after which you can reopen the hive. If the hive is weak, remove the frames and set up a nuc away from the apiary. Again do this before the bees start to fly. Leave the original hive in its exact position and deploy the high efficiency trap as before. Again by mid day you should have eradicated all of the wasps swarm feeding at the hive. Please note that this technique does not work with low efficiency pop bottle traps.