Wasp question that needs its own post...

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Mushy Bees

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Hampshire
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This was posted by Admin as a reply on a recent thread, and I think it's a really good question that deserves its own post.....

What if ????
You have a big wasp problem and you cant find the nest.

Would it work if you take an empty hive/box and place a large amount of fondant/syrup or fruit ect in the box and let the wasps take the easy option of robbing it without any resistance,would it not save a few small colonies from being over run
?


I'd be really interested to know if anyone has tried it as wasps are a real problem for me at the moment.
 
I think it would encourage even more wasps to rob out the free stores then start on the remaining hives. We all know the advice when feeding your hives sugar water, best done late in the day and keep the entrance small to reduce the chances of robbing.

I wouldn't want to encourage jaspers into my apiary unless they were about to have their last meal.

I would how ever recommend this to any local keepers near my apiaries. Sounds like a great idea if they leave my colonies alone.:dupe:
 
I guess you are referring to this bit Eric...

"I know a way of stopping robbing in it's tracks but in a populous area it is not such a good idea and that is running an outside feeder as hungry bees winna rob if there is free feed on the go."

... so it sounds like it might work then!!
 
It was silly of me to allude to PH's post really. I think it might well work in the short term for bees robbing a hive but the trouble with the wasps, I suspect, is that the hive attacks, whether serious or not, do go on for weeks. My hives have been targeted for a few weeks now and I think they will continue to be till the end of September. I hardly think you could leave open feeders available for two and a half months but maybe I'm wrong.
 
I've been advised that one way to track the wasps back to their nest is to suit up and then throw talc or corn flour powder over them when they are feeding on a shrub or some such. Their instinct is then to go back to the nest. I've yet to try this but the advice came from a Beek of >60 years.
 
Wasps unlike bees leave chemical markers at good food sources , the more they visit ,the stronger the marker !! .The stronger the marker the more they visit .

I wait until wasps start to scout around the hives ,then use baited traps 6' or so above the ground but on the periphery of the apiary . this is to divert them away from the hives !
The main attacks start when the wasps have ceased brood rearing .
Adult wasps like bees feed on sugars ( you will see them working balsam and Coneaster in particular .)
During their brood rearing they collect aphids or what ever protein they can get . this is fed to their larvae , in response to this feeding the larvae excrete an ultra sweet guano which the wasp eats ! yucky but neat .
It's when this larvae based source dries up that wasps start looking for other sources .

John Wilkinson
 
Wasps unlike bees leave chemical markers at good food sources , the more they visit ,the stronger the marker !! .The stronger the marker the more they visit .
.....During their brood rearing they collect aphids or what ever protein they can get . this is fed to their larvae , in response to this feeding the larvae excrete an ultra sweet guano which the wasp eats ! yucky but neat .
John Wilkinson

Now, don't start telling me interesting stuff about wasps. I'm not going to get sucked in to finding them cool and interesting.... they have to go....
 
Set the wasp feeding station up.....get them feeding well....then add porter bee escapes,they are then on a one way journey.
 

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