WASPS not so clever as Bees ?

[For want of a better word]

Fitted a wasp excluder as per pic somewhere here on the Forum......

bees find their way around the maze.... totally confuses wasps!

New nuc now safe from the pesky yellow jackets

Stingo.......................

 

[bee ginnner]

Good one

 

[pandtpoultry]

Hi, what wasp trap was that? I have just spent 20 minutes swatting them away from the hives, all bees asleep but air was buzzing so finished with chickens to see wasps by the shed load. I closed the hive entrances and swatted and stamped. I reckon took out 200 the buggers come at dusk it appears as only see 1 or 2 during the day but tonight whoa! let the geese out of their pen and as i swatted they cleaned up they love bees and wasps so not normally allowed in that field Advice on great traps would be appreciated. I said only yesterday how few wasps there are well...........

Oh yes opened the entrances again before I came back.

 

[Kate's Bees]

Also really keen on knowing the best ways of getting rid of wasps as the number predating on my bees is increasing and for someone in fulltime employment there is a limit to standing outside the hive and killing them individually which has been the most efficient thing so far!

I have traps that they completely ignore and tonight saw them going in the wong way through one of those round pointy-out escapes (I forget the name) to the super I was clearing.

 

[richardbees]

Can't remember what anti-wasp devices have already been posted.

However, a narrow 8" piece of glass propped/leaning against the entrance works a treat - the bees learn to go round the ends but the wasps persist in going for the (visible) entrance...

richard

 

[kazmcc]

If it's the one I'm thinking about, but can't remember the forum members name lol, it's like a long peice of cut pipe which you fit over the front of your hive entrance. The bees make their way in and out the sides either side, but the wasps can't work it out. Especially if the pipe is clear as they see the entrance but can't figure how to get in.

Is that the one ihoppit? It could probably be explained a bit better

 

[user 6228]

That explains why the wasps have given up at the Nuc...
The Nuc was under attack by wasps so I went to close down the entrance. With this nuc I needed a thin bit of waterproof card. All I had was some thin clear plastic (old overhead projection transperancy). I was worried the bees would get confused. They worked it out and the wasps went away and I forgot about it.

 

[JohnRoss]

I am having great success at the moment with the bottle wasp trap. I have one with a little bit of coke mixed with 1:1 sugar and water. This catches about one wasp every minute at the moment. there are literly hundreds in it. The second one has blackcurrent jam mixed with the 1:1 sugar and water. this has netted 3 wasps in 2 days. It seems to be the more activity there is in the wasp trap, the more it attracts other wasps.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

It's worth noting that there have been a few threads on the forum recently where people have suggested that putting wasp traps too close to the hives can actually encourage more wasps to the area and make the robbing situation worse.
It may be coincidence, but last year I put out wasp traps and had big wasp problems. This year I have put out none and have barely seen a wasp in the apiary.
Could be a coincidence but worth bearing in mind.

 

[Skyhook]

It's worth noting that there have been a few threads on the forum recently where people have suggested that putting wasp traps too close to the hives can actually encourage more wasps to the area and make the robbing situation worse.
It may be coincidence, but last year I put out wasp traps and had big wasp problems. This year I have put out none and have barely seen a wasp in the apiary.
Could be a coincidence but worth bearing in mind.

 

[JohnRoss]

My wasp problems started after I did an artifical swarm last just over a week ago. I think it might have been the sugar syrup that I fed the Artifical Swarm colony that did it. Before I put out the traps there was chaos. Wasps an bees everywhere fighting. wasps getting in to the colony. After I narrowed the entrance the wasps seemed to think the sugar in the trap was as easier meal. It seams that after trapping hundreds of wasps over the last few days loads more still keep arriving.