Wasp Bane traps

[Karol]

I tried traps last year. Had Approx six round the hive. It killed all the bees as it attracted thousands! This year I use a trap but keep it twenty metres away. So far so good! I have caught hundreds and it seems to mainly keep the wasps from the hives .

It sounds as though you might have used an inappropraite bait.

Best wishes,

Karol

 

[victor meldrew]

Hi Adrian,

Bees and wasps are related so don't be surprised if they share certain similar traits.
Best wishes,

Karol

Honeybees have been referred to as 'Vegetarian Wasps'

VM

 

[Karol]

Honeybees have been referred to as 'Vegetarian Wasps'

VM

Vegetarian or vegan? :0)

What's fascinating is that the stinger and poison sack in (both wasps and) bees have evolved from an ovary and an ovipositor. So at some point in the dim distant past, bees used their ovipositor to lay/inject their eggs onto or into food sources which were probably other insects.

What's also interesting is that wasps also lay down honey (only in tiny amounts and in crystalline form).

Best wishes,

Karol

 

[Chris58]

Over here in France, we are using a mix of beer and apple juice, traps are full! Very effective.

 

[AdrianSmith]

So at some point in the dim distant past, bees used their ovipositor to lay/inject their eggs onto or into food sources which were probably other insects.

Hi Karol,
Why other insects? Gall wasps spring to mind - tiny little wasps that lay their eggs on/in oak leaves, after which the oak produces a marble sized woody thing that protects and nourishes the grub. I wonder if some toxin does that to the oak?
This is an interesting article about the origins of bees:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061025184944.htm
100 million years is a long time ago and that little 3mm thing is probably less related to honey bees and wasps than marsupial wolves and mamalian wolves were.
Fascinating to see that pollinating plants and pollinators all evolved together.

Adrian

 

[Karol]

Hi Karol,
Why other insects? Gall wasps spring to mind - tiny little wasps that lay their eggs on/in oak leaves, after which the oak produces a marble sized woody thing that protects and nourishes the grub. I wonder if some toxin does that to the oak?
This is an interesting article about the origins of bees:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061025184944.htm
100 million years is a long time ago and that little 3mm thing is probably less related to honey bees and wasps than marsupial wolves and mamalian wolves were.
Fascinating to see that pollinating plants and pollinators all evolved together.

Adrian

Hi Adrian,

You're quite right to pull me up :0) I wasn't there 100 million years ago so it could well have been a different food source. In my defence I did say probably. The vast majority of wasps are solitary parasitic insects that prey on other insects. A lot of these are the size of a pin head, so small that we don't recognise them as wasps. I never cease to be amazed at the workings of nature. That a plant could evolve a flower to mimick a female wasp to get males to attempt to mate with it as a way of pollination deserves respect!

Best wishes

Karol

 

[Karol]

Talking about baits I have received a number of enquiries which have prompted me to post a couple of tips. Where honey is recommended as a bait constituent it is essential to follow recommended concentrations where stated otherwise there is a danger of overwhelming the trap and catching bees. I have witnessed bee keepers on a few occasions measuring out honey by eye and this has led to problems. I have also witnessed honey being poured directly into traps which also may cause problems where raw honey gets trapped in the mechanism of the trap which then also may attract bees. Using a lager, water and honey mix of approx 440ml water - 440ml lager and no more than 150g of honey works well and interestingly catches thousands of wax moths :O)

Best wishes,

Karol

 

[beestie]

I have to say I was pretty disappointed during the summer while my Waspbane trap was catching flies and moths, and hardly a wasp in it.
Now, the chamber is full of wasps!
Just goes to show how properly effective they are, and thanks to Karol for the tips and explanations. Just a shame the bait chambers aren't re-useable and cost so much - but I suppose they have to make their money somewhere!

 

[Poggle]

I have two jars up, both with a screw on lid with a 10mm hole in the lids. Some of the wifes home made jam with a bit of water in them both, wire them to the posts around the hives and we collect several hundered a week in each jar BUT, having just seen the post re hanging them further away from the hive area, I will be doing that next season. it is also VERY interesting to watch the wasps in the jars. Like crabs in a bucket, they offer no help to each other at all to get out, they just stamp on the bodies of those underneath them thus helping them to drown quicker. I decided to use kiling jars after I saw it took sometimes three bees to kill one wasp.........So, by my reckoning, if 100 wasps attack a hive, that is THREE HUNDERED bees killed by losing their stings killing the wasps.........(If I am hopelessly wrong, do please correct me) so, the jars cut back quite sharply the amount of wasps trying to get into the hives. Also, we discovered this afternoon when we were there that somethign has dug up and EATEN the dead wasps that Louise buried from the jars..............Fox or cat or even Hedgehogs maybe? We even have Hedgehog scat outside hive one!

 

[The Cumbrian]

Also, we discovered this afternoon when we were there that somethign has dug up and EATEN the dead wasps that Louise buried from the jars..............Fox or cat or even Hedgehogs maybe? We even have Hedgehog scat outside hive one!

I personally would suspect badger.

 

[Gardenbees]

Cider with a lump of propolis in it. Catches wasps but also wax moths.
Although this year, for some reason, the wasps weren't as manic about it as usual. In fact they haven't been too bad, possibly because the bees have been very strong lately.

The key to successfully keeping bees out and attracting wasps in definitely seems to be alchohol, either beer, wine or cider. Something meaty, like a bit of catfood, seems to help as well.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I put a waspbane trap just three feet downwind from my hives. While it caught a goodly amount of wasps it also trapped thousands of flies. However, there was little wasp activity outside the hives compared to last year. Strangely while I have seen quite a few queen wasps looking for winter quarters there have not been many on the ivy and they are usually there before the bees.
I'll use one again next year.

 

[Poggle]

I personally would suspect badger.

Hmmmmmmmmm, in my estimation the pooh is too small for a badger.....But, good idead though!

 

[Poggle]

here is a little story to make Karol cringe. We have a gentleman on our allotment who's idea of getting rid of ALL wasp nests is to "DIG THEM OUT LAD!!". He did this to a nest discovered by the lady who owns the plot next to us. The nest was under some black polythene sheeting that was covering her manure heap she had delivered. Not one person knew the nest was there till she needed manure and moved the sheeting. She got stung, fair enough. Bozo comes along and digs it out, this makes them mental and they sting another plot holder but not the digger outer for some reason.....Two days later (and this is when we realise for the first time what is going on), here is bozo again at the bottom of the plot with a digging fork in his hands and bent over looking at the ground. Me, not knowing about the nest, decides to see what he is looking at. I see a wasp walking along the ground with an egg or grub in its mouth. "Oooooo, LOOK a wasp with an egg!!!" Says I. (read next bit in your best Dorset accent) "Ar, I 'ave dug them buggers out oi 'ave Jock n them be dying right good!! best way ever o killing them buggers that is!!"" By this time my wife is walking down the path towards us, I have just realised what the muppet has done and have also noticed the nest is on the ground with LOTS of wasps around it at ankle level.........Bozo then digs a small hole in the ground with said fork whilst saying " Ah'll bury the buggers now Jock n thaul be the end o them!!" I have started to walk away at this point and motioned to the wife to get the hell out of it when bozo sticks the bloody fork INTO the nest, picks it up, the nest disintigrates around him and every blessed wasp comes out loaded for bear!!! My wife, who doesn't panic thankfully and is also not allergic to wasps stood VERY still while this cloud went around her, she did get stung twice though, BOZO, instead of getting the hell out of it and letting them settle, starts to wave his arms about and went to slap them from the wife!! He got stung an aweful lot of times he did! And I am still not symathetic towards him. Louise started to very slowely walk towards me as the wasps turned their attention to bozo.

John

 

[greatbritishhoney]

It's a bit worrying that some of these traps are so indescriminate as to what they kill. Moths and flies may seem like pests but they cause no harm to us or the bees (other than wax moth of course). It's a shame the traps can't be designed to deter them.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Cancel comment - old thread!

 

[onriver]

? though worth re-visiting access to some very esoteric and useful advice about wasp behaviour!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Bump.

The thread on Ivy got me thinking of wasps.
Some fascinating stuff here. Start at the beginning.

 

[Erichalfbee]

There is the beginnings of some wasp IPM on the wasp bane website with more promised.