Deterring wasps

[Gilberdyke John]

The trouble with wasps is that, unlike honey bees, they invade our personal space e.g. buzz your face, your drink, your food. Ten years ago one August we hosted a street party in our cul-de-sac. It was a bad wasp year (like this last year) and eating lunch/holding drinks etc was really unpleasant for our guests.

2020 was my worst wasp year ever in my apiary. Three colonies lost. I caught hundreds, probably thousands of wasps in one Apishield and two Waspbanes, but my guess is that the local queen wasps (never located) were laying at a faster rate than their daughters were being captured.

BTW: I found waspinators (faux wasps nests) useless.

Generally by the time wasps are becoming a nuisance to hives the expansion of the nest is starting to wane, the sweet exudate from the wasp grubs is running short hence the adults search for other sweet feeding sources such as fruit, honey, human fizzy drinks and the like. There's a place for jam jar traps but not close to hives. Outside on kitchen window sills where the build up of dead wasps can be seen makes for entertainment.

 

[Spinney]

I agree with Poot about offering the wasp nest to your local primary school (hopefully allowed soon). When we moved into this house we arranged to have central heating installed. However, loft insulation was not possible “because of wasps“. There were two very large wasp nests, the size of a butler kitchen sink, attached to the roof lining. A helpful lady at the council offices assured me there would be no occupants and so we removed them ourselves and our daughter took one to school. They are like paper mache. A man who was repairing our wooden flooring said “And we think we are clever” .

 

[ericbeaumont]

I was told that hairspray will bond a nest before removal (they're fragile).

 

[Happygran]

If the entrance for both insects is external and the windows were shut, how do they enter the room? Sealing that point of access won't prevent you hearing the murmur.

I don't follow: isn't the entrance outside? Are the gaps inside the room or outside?

They enter their nests from outside, but in spite of closed windows and filling any gaps I find, they still get in. Obviously cleverer than I am. It's a very old and tatty house.

 

[Erichalfbee]

They enter their nests from outside, but in spite of closed windows and filling any gaps I find, they still get in. Obviously cleverer than I am. It's a very old and tatty house.

I have a slug that gets into the living room every night. No idea how it gets in. Trails all over the floor!

 

[Karol]

<snip> A man who was repairing our wooden flooring said “And we think we are clever” .

Fascinating how wasps build their nests and even more fascinating when one comes to understand that wasps use their legs and antennae as geometric measuring devices. So for example, the crook in the antennae of female worker wasps is used to set the angle on their hexagonal brood cell walls and the length of the antennae from the crook sets the length of each wall.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Fascinating how wasps build their nests and even more fascinating when one comes to understand that wasps use their legs and antennae as geometric measuring devices. So for example, the crook in the antennae of female worker wasps is used to set the angle on their hexagonal brood cell walls and the length of the antennae from the crook sets the length of each wall.

What is fascinating is that we actually know this

 

[Karol]

The product of many years of research.

 

[Curly green finger's]

I have a slug that gets into the living room every night. No idea how it gets in. Trails all over the floor!

Same for me in the lounge don't know where it comes from but there is always slim on the harth, there's nothing to feed on unless it has taken a liking to Ash and sout.

 

[citrus]

.

2020 was my worst wasp year ever in my apiary. Three colonies lost. I caught hundreds, probably thousands of wasps in one Apishield and two Waspbanes, but my guess is that the local queen wasps (never located) were laying at a faster rate than their daughters were being captured.

BTW: I found waspinators (faux wasps nests) useless.

me too ... can I ask if you were late putting in the waspbanes ? I was going to invest this year

 

[Amari]

me too ... can I ask if you were late putting in the waspbanes ? I was going to invest this year

Yes, probably - reactive rather than proactive. Probably late August (hazy memory).

What gets me about the Waspbane is the cost of the refill - £17.30. Refill = lower plastic chamber and a box of their patent wasp-attractant powder.
https://www.thorne.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=wasps&product_id=2027
You might expect that when the chamber is full of wasps it would be easy to unscrew the chamber from the vertical 'chimney' and pour away the wasps and liquid and refill the chamber with a wasp attractant eg. beer, jam etc. But no: the entrance to the chamber is guarded by a one-way rubber valve so that you can't pour out the contents i.e. you have to throw it away and buy another @ £17.30

The answer is to remove the rubber valve, pour away the contents, and refill the chamber. However removing the valve is very difficult - I suspect it's glued in. I have managed it but it's a struggle

]

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

What gets me about the Waspbane is the cost of the refill - £17.30.

You should befriend a local pest controller - just seen on my catalogue, you can buy liquid wasp bait/attractor, forty quid a gallon

 

[Amari]

You should befriend a local pest controller - just seen on my catalogue, you can buy liquid wasp bait/attractor, forty quid a gallon

No, it's not the attractant that's the problem - beer with some jam is probably just as good and cheaper. The problem is needing to buy a new chamber because you're not meant to recycle the old one.

 

[The Poot]

Yes, probably - reactive rather than proactive. Probably late August (hazy memory).

What gets me about the Waspbane is the cost of the refill - £17.30. Refill = lower plastic chamber and a box of their patent wasp-attractant powder.
https://www.thorne.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=wasps&product_id=2027
You might expect that when the chamber is full of wasps it would be easy to unscrew the chamber from the vertical 'chimney' and pour away the wasps and liquid and refill the chamber with a wasp attractant eg. beer, jam etc. But no: the entrance to the chamber is guarded by a one-way rubber valve so that you can't pour out the contents i.e. you have to throw it away and buy another @ £17.30

The answer is to remove the rubber valve, pour away the contents, and refill the chamber. However removing the valve is very difficult - I suspect it's glued in. I have managed it but it's a struggle

]

If you keep the plastic tube supplied and not push it into the chamber, (as instructed!) you can keep the flaps open with it to empty it and start again.

 

[gmonag]

It is a simple matter to remove the rubber stopper/valve, empty the bottle, retrieve the tube and re-assemble. However I do not know what the proprietary powder is (obviously) and I assume it is quite important. It is not just an attractant, but also assists in breaking down the organic matter in the chamber.
That said, I'm sure would still work well without it, but I buy a new refill each year because it works so effectively.

 

[Monbees]

However I do not know what the proprietary powder is (obviously) and I assume it is quite important. It is not just an attractant, but also assists in breaking down the organic matter in the chamber.
That said, I'm sure would still work well without it, but I buy a new refill each year because it works so effectively.
[/QUOTE]
I use two waspbanes for my four hive apiary and buy two new refills each year in readiness, so as not to get caught out by wasps. They work very well for me - refills are a small price to pay to save a hive (or two).

 

[Amari]

If you keep the plastic tube supplied and not push it into the chamber, (as instructed!) you can keep the flaps open with it to empty it and start again.

But the plastic tube is only about 2cm in diameter and the lumen is obstructed by + shaped cross pieces. When you invert the chamber I find that the dead wasps won't shake out but get stuck in the lumen. I've therefore tried a short length of hose pipe with a clear lumen but because of the shape of the neck of the chamber, when the chamber is inverted the distal (the end of the pipe in the chamber) tip of the pipe is above the fluid level of the chamber's contents ie. the contents won't drain.

 

[Amari]

It is a simple matter to remove the rubber stopper/valve, empty the bottle, retrieve the tube and re-assemble. However I do not know what the proprietary powder is (obviously) and I assume it is quite important. It is not just an attractant, but also assists in breaking down the organic matter in the chamber.
That said, I'm sure would still work well without it, but I buy a new refill each year because it works so effectively.

1. Not simple for me!
2. Maybe if you're proactive = start early in the wasp season. I can't believe the Waspbane catches wasps faster than a couple of nearby large wasps nests' daily hatch rate.

 

[Monbees]

1. Not simple for me!
2. Maybe if you're proactive = start early in the wasp season. I can't believe the Waspbane catches wasps faster than a couple of nearby large wasps nests' daily hatch rate.

I'm sure Karol will explain ... again ... the waspbane is intended to catch the scout wasps so the frenzy of thousands of wasps is pre-empted and never happens.

 

[Amari]

I'm sure Karol will explain ... again ... the waspbane is intended to catch the scout wasps so the frenzy of thousands of wasps is pre-empted and never happens.

Thanks for that - a point that I'd missed.

I have two 'chimneys' and two chambers from which I managed with difficulty to remove the rubber bungs. Next summer I plan to buy one more Waspbane refill to which I'll attach one of the chimneys. In the second chamber I'll put beer and smear the inside surface with strawberry jam.
Come nine months I hope I'll be able to report the comparative wasp-catch rate.