Wasps

[SixFooter]

A collected swarm has been suffering from wasp attacks, so I put a piece of perspex leaned up against the entrance. Sure enough the bees worked out how to get around it in a few minutes and the wasps seemed not to be able to. However, after a week, the wasps have it sussed, so I had to implement plan B today- a short 9mm tube as entrance. It really upset returning foragers, but they seem to be using it normally now. The wasps have given up almost completely.

 

[victor meldrew]

Wasps can make mistakes ' this colony chose a place hardly big enough for their requirements!
It was duly abandoned as it became impossible to expand!

VM

 

[Luminos]

Those bird boxes are quite low down, VM - are they for ground nesting birds...

 

[SixFooter]

The 9mm tube stopped working after a day, so I moved the hive 3 foot to one side and put a wasp trap where the hive used to be. This did not fool the wasps for very long at all. Wasps appear to be coming and going as the please through the tube.

Plan C is to move the colony.

 

[victor meldrew]

The 9mm tube stopped working after a day, so I moved the hive 3 foot to one side and put a wasp trap where the hive used to be. This did not fool the wasps for very long at all. Wasps appear to be coming and going as the please through the tube.

Plan C is to move the colony.

This plus reduced entrance ensures wasps have to get past waiting guard bees !
VM

VM

 

[Haughton Honey]

Cut a piece of wood the same size as your usual entrance block and then drill a hole in the centre with an 9-10mm diameter.

If the colony is larger then use one with two or three holes drilled.

Works a treat for weaker colonies or nucs.

 

[Elaine]

The wasps nest I mentioned in another thread has been destroyed - but not by me! We got all kitted up, and went up on to the roof to deal with it as we need access to work on the roof, and it was gone.
Luckily I found the remains of the nest a metre or so away from where it was -else I don't think Derek was going to believe it was ever there, but I am curious as to what would have destroyed the nest.......

 

[Chris Luck]

Where was the nest Elaine and was it in a built up area or countryside?

Chris

 

[SixFooter]

Maybe they have come to the end of the season and abandoned the nest. When the Queen has stopped laying, there perhaps isnt much point in going back.

I have a nuc under wasp attack, so I waited til dark and closed it up to move it. When I had moved it and I opened it up, the first to emerge from the entrance were wasps!
I took the lid off to take a look and there were lots of them inside. They must have
spent the night in the nuc rather than returning to their nest.

I witnessed them staying overnight in a Lidl bag I left in a shed once. I had used it for carrying fondant and there were some remnants in the bottom. I went in to move it after dark and took it into my kitchen. I ended up with a kitchen full of wasps!

I've read a few wasp life cycle descriptions and it's not suggested that they abandon the nest like this. However, it seems as though they may.

 

[Karol]

Maybe they have come to the end of the season and abandoned the nest. When the Queen has stopped laying, there perhaps isnt much point in going back.

I have a nuc under wasp attack, so I waited til dark and closed it up to move it. When I had moved it and I opened it up, the first to emerge from the entrance were wasps!
I took the lid off to take a look and there were lots of them inside. They must have
spent the night in the nuc rather than returning to their nest.

I witnessed them staying overnight in a Lidl bag I left in a shed once. I had used it for carrying fondant and there were some remnants in the bottom. I went in to move it after dark and took it into my kitchen. I ended up with a kitchen full of wasps!

I've read a few wasp life cycle descriptions and it's not suggested that they abandon the nest like this. However, it seems as though they may.

Indeed they do but only when the nest has matured and only when circumstances dictate. They still prefer the security of their nest but it's not as important as finding a good source of food.

 

[Elaine]

Where was the nest Elaine and was it in a built up area or countryside?

Chris

The nest was attached to the outside of the eaves of my bungalow - we are in a village close to a heath, so not what you would call a real built up area, we get deer and rabbits in the garden, but the main preditors are airborne - magpies and kites

 

[o.stjohn]

On the other thread there is a photo of my wasp-proof entrance - I used foil tape to cover a mouse guard and punched just two holes. Within minutes I saw a wasp go in - maybe the guard bees were still getting used to new layout...

 

[Tim.S]

I reduced the entrance to a newly re-queened hive this evening and stood and watched it for about half an hour. For the first 10 to 15 mins the wasps just carried on going in but the girls soon got their act together and the wasps were starting to be ejected in some numbers. The first entrance was about 10cm long, the reduced one was about 1cm. And what a difference, enough to give the bees a fighting chance. The wasps are sniffing around the other hives but they are strong enough to fend them off with a standard entrance block.

 

[Chris Luck]

The nest was attached to the outside of the eaves of my bungalow - we are in a village close to a heath, so not what you would call a real built up area, we get deer and rabbits in the garden, but the main preditors are airborne - magpies and kites

Corvides will sometimes attack a wasp nest so maybe Magpies, they eat almost anything.

Chris