Wasp Trap bait

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Winker

Drone Bee
Joined
Jan 4, 2011
Messages
1,365
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Location
Bedfordshire
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
22
Whats the best bait for traping wasps right now?
 
Kitty Cat ... Whiskas...

Out apiary owners have a number of pussycats.... and wasps were all over the left out festering tinned cat food...... UGH!!!!
 
An Empty Jam Jar, with a bit of jam, splash of water and 1 drop of fairy liquid in the bottom. A 7-8mm hole in the lid, place on the floor away from the hive and watch the jar fill with wasps. Jam for attractant, water to drown and fairy liquid to break the surface tension allowing for a quicker drowning.

A friend said that the jar full of dead / dieing wasps was the single most horrific thing he had ever seen -LOL
 
I've found cheep concentrated orange juice works best
 
Pick up some rotting fruit from your local fruit selling place. If not smelling vinegary put a little cider vinegar in and drop pf water. Otherwise ribena, jam and cider vinegar, water. Agree with washing up liquid also.
 
Won't these sugary baits also attract bees? How far away from hives should the traps be?
 
Won't these sugary baits also attract bees? How far away from hives should the traps be?


JohnSB, the bees won't go after the sugary jams etc just the wasps so as long as there is no honey in the mix you should be ok.
 
i use

about 50% cheap, nasty or old lager\bitter

about 50% cheap\old fruit juice

a dash of vinegar

I use an old 2 or 3 litre pop bottle, wrapped in black baling tape with a 1" hole cut in it about 2/3s of the way up the bottle.

it seems to catch every wasp and moth in the area.
 
Our neighbours have a wasp nest in their roof. It's fairly inaccessible and not bothering them so they aren't proposing to do anything about it.

I've seen quite a lot of wasps around my hives but none attempting to enter at the moment. They seem more interested in the conifer hedge next to the hives.

Should I put up some traps to try and reduce the numbers, or shall I wait until I find out if there is going to be a problem? I don't want to kill the wasps unnecessarily.
 
Our neighbours have a wasp nest in their roof. It's fairly inaccessible and not bothering them so they aren't proposing to do anything about it.

I've seen quite a lot of wasps around my hives but none attempting to enter at the moment. They seem more interested in the conifer hedge next to the hives.

Should I put up some traps to try and reduce the numbers, or shall I wait until I find out if there is going to be a problem? I don't want to kill the wasps unnecessarily.
I lost a colony to wasps last year, (albeit a small one). I have it on good authority that wasps can finish off a colony in minutes. I don't know how true this is, but in your position I would not take the risk, and get some traps out pretty soon.
 
I didn't realise it could be as bad as that
:eek:

One of my colonies is pretty weak - I'll be mixing up jam concoctions in the morning - thank you!
 
Thanks folks :sifone:

Going to close down the front of the hives today and put in a few traps. I have seen the numbers of wasps rising over the last week, none bothering the bees yet. But it wont be long i guess :eek:
 
Wasp Bait

Hi Guys,

I don't keep bees, but I wanted to ask folks who would know.

I have a wasp phobia, from childhood, and we have a brewing wasp issue. I set a trap for them last autumn using sweet bait, jam, etc. That worked a treat, we had quite a good result. I tried to follow up this spring and read that the best bait was protein, or meat. We've tried using luncheon meat suspended in the trap, nothing. The style of trap I have means I have to suspend the bait, so I'm not sure how I would use a dollop of cat food as someone suggested.

We've already dispatched a queen from our shed, I'm keen to maintain the pressure. What should we be using?

Cheers

Rob
 
As posted by another member .

Leave the things and nest alone unless the nest is in your face, wasps do more good than harm, which i have found out over the past couple of year's, Karol who does not post anymore through Trolls is the man to listen to.
Leave them alone and and do not put Wasp trap's out till Autumn time..


Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
 
Traps attract wasps to you so would have thought it best to not go down that road if you have a phobia. No matter how many you catch if it's a good wasp year they will keep coming.
 
Should I put up some traps to try and reduce the numbers, or shall I wait until I find out if there is going to be a problem? I don't want to kill the wasps unnecessarily.

Wasps are no great threat at the moment.
:calmdown:
Best thing would be to wait until mid July & sort them out at source after dark with a foaming wasp killer. :spy:

The presence of a wasp nest nearby is supposed to limit wasps from other colonies, so they're beneficial to all until they start to raid your hives or steal your picnic!
 
Thanks guys,

So the feeling is that until they are looking for sweet things they shouldn't be an issue and they should mind their own business, I'm safer leaving them, than attracting them to a trap. Yeah?

Do these fake nests work? They claim to scare them off...

The waspbane is interesting, I managed to avoid getting stung last year but I was aware it would seem a risk. The idea of a maintenance free solution does make a lot of sense if we end up back in that situation. I'm afraid I'm unrepentant about evicting the queen in our shed, she was territorial as soon as you went in. I have no idea where the nest is, but the local pest control tell me it shouldn't be viable at this stage. If you know better please advise...

Thanks for the help guys.

Rob
 

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