Wasps around hives.

[BKF Admin]

Has anyone got a wasp problem yet ?
I remember last year I had a hell of a problem around the second week of July with them but this year not seen any around the apiary yet.

I have crossed fingers that I have not spoke to soon.

 

[grizzly]

I have had two nests near hives, and i have seen the odd wasp trying to gain access to a couple of hives, just chancers at this stage i guess, i certainly hope that this year is no way near like last.

 

[merylvingien]

i certainly hope that this year is no way near like last.

Its going to be worse!

I am flat out at the moment just doing wasps, and long may it continue lol

I know its a pain for the bees, but i got to eat...

 

[OXFORDBEE]

It will be a bad year for wasps when it happens. I had them sniffing round hives in June and I've not had this before.

What is most interesting is the number of wax moth sitting on the outside of hives this year.

 

[Mike a]

Has anyone got a wasp problem yet ?

Not seen any wasps yet this year at either of my apiaries.

 

[SER]

I've seen very few wasps so far this year.

I managed to get a few queen wasps over the winter, 4 queens must remove a good few wasps from the area later in the year,

Si,

 

[Friar Tuck]

if a wasp trys it on with my hive . they will open a can of woop ass on them :O)

 

[thebhoy]

Have a mini nuc /mating hive building up in my garden - coming on well since queen mated.
Discovered last night that I have a wasp nest in the eaves of my house -seen them going in and out smallish ones and about 50 feet away
Bit hacked off as I have taken next week off as a weeks holiday to paint the outside of the house - now I have to remove facia boards etc and find the nest before doing anything else - I love f****ng wasps

Joy oh joy,

thebhoy

 

[oliver90owner]

Look inside the loft first. Might be in an easy place.

Regards, RAB

 

[Onge]

I've just started seeing them trying to get in the past week.

Seems earlier this year, keep those colonies strong.

 

[melon]

I haven't noticed any wasps bothering the bees yet, but have seen 2 hornets very close, one of them being rolled about by bees. Unfortunately, it got away. I could have put my foot on it, but I didn't want to squash the bees!

 

[merylvingien]

now I have to remove facia boards etc and find the nest before doing anything else

Why?

Hours removing facia boards, pissing about finding the nest, 35 - 40 quid will sort it out garanteed, end of story, 5 minute job!

You guys are such cheap skates, and then you will piss and moan when you get well and truly whacked while trying to attempt a diy effort, JUST because you keep bees... PMSL

 

[spughawk]

Fingers crossed not many wasps in this area this year, i think the hard winter killed a lot of queens

 

[oliver90owner]

Hard winter killing bees? Unlikely. The sensible queens hibernate deep in north facing banks and are usually very well protected. 1963 probably sorted them a bit, but probably not 2010.

Proof, or corroborating evidence, may well be that there are plenty of bumbles, which have a similar hibernation pattern to the wasp.

The poor spring will have a much larger effect than our most recent 'hard' winter, but again the bumbles seem to have coped - just came out that bit later, or they picked their nesting sites better than some queen wasps.

Regards, RAB

 

[spughawk]

We have plenty of Bumble Bees but very few wasps in our area Rab, you could well be right about about the winter not affecting them and it was the late spring with the hard frosts that killed off a lot of the queens, usualy i seek out wasp nests as i use the grubs for fishing but this year i have not found a local nest yet,

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have seen wasps already with one dead outside one of the hives. There are also plenty round my neighbours' strawberries.
Where do you guys put your traps?
I have a willow hurdle six feet away from the hives facing the prevailing wind and I have hung two there. There are another three on the floor, one under each hive. The latter have caught wasps already though not enough to empty yet.
Is it worth putting a few further afield? Could the ones under the hive be attracting wasps or just diverting them as intended?

 

[susbees]

Yup, wasps here for a month already. Found one alive on top of the quilt on a nuc yesterday, couple of dead ones by another hive. No idea about the rest as the grass is quite long down there after our little bit of rain.

Strong nest somewhere on next door's farm buildings/house....wasps were working the big cotoneaster "trees" last month and are using our oak windows to make their nest. Must speak to them about dealing with it (they have a holiday cottage so won't want to upset the guests - I hope!).

 

[Chris Luck]

Are wasps and hornets really a big problem for your bees in the UK?

Chris

 

[kronkie]

Just started beekeeping so I have not heard of this problem till now.
I have a wasp nest in the ground about 20 yards from my hive so with what you guys on here are saying I my have a problem waiting to catch me out.
Please tell me what I can do about them.

 

[Firegazer]

I guess they shouldn't be, if the colony is strong and healthy.

When the wasps don't have enough aphids and insects to eat (as the weather gets colder), they come looking for honey stores. If the bee colony has a wide entrance, or is small or weakened by varroa/viruses, the wasps can get the upper hand and then clean out the hive.

Beeks over-wintering nucs might be particularly concerned as there just aren't enough guards to put up a good fight against wasps who have a large nest (by the Autumn) and can pick on the weakest colony they find.

Maybe this would historically exert negative selection pressure on colonies who swarmed too late in the year, or with not a large enough colony to start with? In that regard, a nucleus looks very like a swarm that didn't do well enough by testing time (Winter).

FG