Wasps

[Skyhook]

That'll be the main reason.

One high efficiency wasp trap suggests using honey as bait.

Why attract bees?


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[cjhart2]

Take one clear plastic bottle - about 0.5 to 1 litre. Remove top. (and labels)
Cut in half. About half way up.

Place bottom half on table/ground.
Invert top half and place with neck inside bottom half.
Seal two halves together with gaffer tape.

One addition i have made for my hornet trap is .Cut the neck off the bottle , slice a section of about 5mm to 1cm from the the top of the bottom section but DO NOT cut all the way through , leave about 2cm connected to the bottom section of the bottle. This section of plastic becomes a hanging strap so you can hang it over branch end or a nail .
By bait is beer .

 

[oliver90owner]

Place under hives or near them where it will not be blown over.

Astoundingly idiotic place to position a wasp trap? Any wasp attracted to it and not killed will likely target the hive later, bringing with it all its sisters.

Far better using a high efficiency trap close to a hive, I would think. Me? I don't put wasp traps anywhere near hives.

As there are reportedly many more bumbles this year, than last, I expect there will be many more wasp nests also as, unlike last year, the hibernating queens came out much later in the season and have been able to found a new nest far more easily than the in that crazy March weather followed by continual rain of last year.

 

[Karol]

Place under hives or near them where it will not be blown over.

Astoundingly idiotic place to position a wasp trap?

It really does depend on the design and efficiency of the trap. In any trap, the thing to look (very carefully) for is whether any wasps are able to escape. If they are then as you say they will attract more wasps and just add to the problem.

Any wasp attracted to it and not killed will likely target the hive later, bringing with it all its sisters.

Very true! I think it's worth emphasizing what can happen. When wasps find a (low efficiency) trap (before they find a hive that is) they will at first ignore the hive and concentrate on the trap. And just as you say, they will recruit their sisters to the trap from their nests increasing the number of wasps around the trap. Then two things happen. Invariably there will be several colonies of wasps aggressively competing amongst each other which basically means these wasps will already be more 'angry' than if they were just scouting. The second thing is that at some point the trap will cease to become 'accessible' to the wasps. The trap might dry out, get blown over or simply become too full with wasps. At this point you then have a swarm of wasps that will start looking for an alternative food source. What does it mean in practice?

Well instead of having solitary scouting wasps arriving at the hive which the hives can more easily deal with, the hives end up being attacked by a concentrated swarm of wasps which is more of a challenge to them to deal with.

Far better using a high efficiency trap close to a hive, I would think. Me? I don't put wasp traps anywhere near hives.

It isn't easy to tell the difference between high and low efficiency wasp traps because it isn't about how many wasps are killed it's about how many escape (over the whole daylight period). For those that can't tell the difference then I think your advice is very sound.

As there are reportedly many more bumbles this year, than last, I expect there will be many more wasp nests also as, unlike last year, the hibernating queens came out much later in the season and have been able to found a new nest far more easily than the in that crazy March weather followed by continual rain of last year.

Our monitoring stations are still observing low wasp population numbers. There may be pockets of higher numbers where local conditions are more favourable but generally speaking wasps are having to recover from a very low base line.

Regards,

Karol

 

[sandysman]

Try a jam jar with half larger and half coke. A small hole in a foil top works every time. Andy