Wasp

[victor meldrew]

Wasp traps attract wasps. Wasps aren't fussy , once attracted they will capitalise on any sweet substance, Honey especially !
Set your traps in Autumn when the wasps become a nuisance !
Set them away from the hives and keep them topped up!

John Wilkinson

 

[nottingham]

Wasp traps attract wasps. Wasps aren't fussy , once attracted they will capitalise on any sweet substance, Honey especially !
Set your traps in Autumn when the wasps become a nuisance !
Set them away from the hives and keep them topped up!

John Wilkinson

That why it seems very strange when you hear of beeks that put wasp traps within feet of there hive, in the hope the wasps will go for the trap instead of the hive. I keep mine well away from the hive so not to invite wasps to have a free meal.

 

[BKF Admin]

I have had a couple of pm's from members who are not happy with some of the name calling in this thread.

Please try not to abuse other members.
Admin.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

I don't deny that wasps are a valuable part of our ecosystem, but then so are rats. They are plentiful and any amount of squashing by a few beekeepers is not going to make any difference to their numbers.
I'm also not sure why wasps eating tiny flying insects is meant to be a point their favour.
It could easily be argued that it is much more ethical to squash one wasp now rather than 50 in August.
And, just for the record, the one I squashed was in my house bouncing against the window - only got squashed because I didn't fancy me or my kids getting stung as I tried to get it out.
And as for "dumb ass paranoid cretins", well, I think you probably lost the argument right there irrespective of whether you are more knowledgable about wasps.

 

[Haughton Honey]

It's the age old mantra.

Keep your colonies as strong as possible.....at all times.

 

[oliver90owner]

WPC,

You are a fast learner!!

Regards, RAB

 

[TOBY-3652]

The only wasps that show interest in beehives are the ones at the end of the summer that become free agents after the death of the nest///// what a load of tosh.. All the wasps that ive followed from beehives have been going to a nest.. 1 puff of powder and no more nest. Dig one up and see if theres only one in it or better still kill the 1 wasp then dig the nest up

 

[chycarne]

Midland, I am a coach as well as beekeeper and my other day job which pays the bills I am not used to repeating myself and I am suprised that after your last outburst you have failed to learn why and indeed learn very much at all. I am disapointed as a lot of your posts are interesting, reactionary insults dont help. Please think your comments through and understand that a plant no matter how valuable is a weed when in the wrong place. All wildlife is a pest when when in the wrong place. on part of the site wasps and hornets are not bashed in the bee part they are simple... end of!
what I call a wasp attack is, when we were given a small nuc with a laying queen, they were happy with the other bee hives, and increasing in size, and doing nicely and then suddenly started dramtaiclly shrinking in numbers (over the space of two days) we watched and saw they were being raided by wasps, put up traps moved them and everything. But lost the colony as the queen had been damaged too. This was a sad thing as the queen and bees had been selected and were an important part of our programme. The build up was planned and the set up had been planned. There was not a previous wasp problem, there wont be again. We are environmental and ecologistic in our view of the world around us, we ahve improved the patch so we now have 7 snipe overwinter with us as apposed to 4 years ago when there was only a pair or intermittant visitors, and before that none... for example. Yes wasps are and integrall part of our world but like weeds- plants being in the wrong place, a wasp is a pest when it impinges on our activity, elsewhere they dont get bumped off, near the apiary (which is clean and tidy) they will be ex wasps... so as I must be a mindless cretin beekeeping type I remain disapointed at the strong views so expressed- before you shout, ask why people do what they do and remain grateful for your own good fortune. Wasps are good beasties Hornets even more so but in the wrong place they will dealt with. I will have a good balanced environment where it is safe for me and mine. Oh an as an aside we also have two red ant nests this year, and, last year for the first time we had some blues and what looked liek a couple of copper butterlies back... so please dont tell me I dont understand the world around me... on the south of our patch wasps and hornets are allowed on the north they are not. Simple.

 

[tonybloke]

not a bad post, chycarne, but if I may give a different perspective on your definition of 'weeds are plants in the wrong place'

as someone with 'tickets' in organic horticulture and food production, I have a slightly different definition of a 'weed'

my definition of a 'weed' is "any plant that is outgrowing / out-performing the plant I want to grow in the conditions I have provided".

the rest are all 'living mulch'

 

[chycarne]

Tonybloke, I dont often change my definitions, I have now I really like that!! nice one!

 

[tonybloke]

thanks chycarne!

 

[beestingjohn]

We all care

What a marvellous Thread, strong emotions, most people are wanting to improve the environment, beekeepers in particular!
Man has been in control ( or tried) of what happens on the planet for many years.
The education of others is normally better than insults.

We have a nature reserve and now that we are keeping bees our priorities have changed, do we still want the same amount of hornet & wasp nests nearby?

 

[greatbritishhoney]

I think it is actually a fascinating question about how, as human beings, we pick and choose which other lifeforms it is acceptable to kill.
My own philosophy is that I only kill something that I intend to eat or that is doing harm to me, my family or my livestock.
So, I don't loose any sleep when I de-flea my dog, or squash a wasp that is bothering my bees.
However, I leave most of nettles on my land because they are the main food source for the caterpillers of peacock butterflies. Life on the land is all about compromise and finding a working balance with nature.

 

[chycarne]

Nettles after they have fed the Peacocock Butterflies Catipillers become great compost both liquid and solid... its the small Blue butterfly and Copper that we are trying to get back. Finally got a couple of red ant nests and saw both butterflies last year so we are hoping for better this year- we also have some of the right plants small things that I cant remember at work - a trefoil of some sort. Ducks are nesting on a hidden patch, yup I try to be balanced with Nature some weeds elswhere on our patch grow succesfully as wanted plants...

 

[Silly Bee]

I think it is actually a fascinating question about how, as human beings, we pick and choose which other lifeforms it is acceptable to kill.
My own philosophy is that I only kill something that I intend to eat or that is doing harm to me, my family or my livestock.
So, I don't loose any sleep when I de-flea my dog, or squash a wasp that is bothering my bees.
However, I leave most of nettles on my land because they are the main food source for the caterpillers of peacock butterflies. Life on the land is all about compromise and finding a working balance with nature.

Mother nature finds her own balance if left alone.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Mother nature finds her own balance if left alone.

Hmmm....I agree to an extent but it depends what you call a proper balance. For example...a well laid hedge is a much much better habitat for a great array of wildlife compared to a hedge that has been left to grow wild.
Human beings should always try to live "with" nature rather than try to tame it, but we have to recognise that our countryside in the UK is to a large extent man-made and requires some management. If we just left everything to nature we would get what you call a balance but it would involve the extinction of a fair few species that are currently supported by the activities of man. But it goes without saying that Mans' activities put an equally large amount of species at threat.

 

[Midland Beek]

My Apology
I would just like to offer my apologies to any members of this forum whom my comments might have upset in this thread. I can't help having certain strong opinions, but certain comments of mine in this thread were stupid and unkind. Sorry.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

My Apology
I would just like to offer my apologies to any members of this forum whom my comments might have upset in this thread. I can't help having certain strong opinions, but certain comments of mine in this thread were stupid and unkind. Sorry.

It happens to all of us every now and again MB.
IMO a good measure of a person is when they are willing to say sorry - a rare quality these days.
Good on you - we could do with a bit more of that on the forum.

Andy.

 

[victor meldrew]

A passionate post is a passionate post.

Vilifying all and sundry ad-nauseum is another matter !
MB you haven't crossed that line in my opinion ,nor does it seem to have offended as much as you think

JW.

 

[susbees]

Anyone killing wasps at this time of the season is a stupid person because they are mostly interested in catching small flying insects and not the contents of a beehive.

I don't totally agree with this statement from our experience last Spring. We have a large cotoneaster bush (eight feet tall) by our greenhouse and some 250 yards from the nearest of our hives. Hence not around our hives.

Midway between these two points we dispatched a strong colony of German wasps mid-summer. They had mob-fed on that cotoneaster and my then eight year old had seen them attack and wrestle to the farm track any honey bees attempting to feed from that bush (it wasn't a one-off thing).

Attacking bees near the hives is also sport for the larger wasps when meat comes on the menu for their charges.