Wasps

[Amari]

What are all those holes for in the roof!?

An alternative to match sticks...

 

[RichardBeeW]

What are all those holes for in the roof!?

Haha! Got me there JBM before I was a grownup about a month ago - I was working on the idea of a Warre type ‘quilt’ with hessian bottom and filled with dry moss (which didn’t stay dry or mould free for long) with offset ventilation holes in the quilt box and the roof. Then I met you fine folk on here and heard your views on NOT ventilating So now the Warre quilt boxes are gone and my roofs have the little bit of ordinary polystyrene insulation they started with (about 25mm) but with a further 50mm of ... I forget the brand name.... definitely not Semtex and those vent holes are now closed off inside with duct tape - they do make lovely finger holes for lifting though - reminds me of my youth in bowling alleys
PS the floors of the two hives in the background have also been converted along the lines described in the JBM plans for underfloor entrances - I’m learning a lot here!!!

 

[RichardBeeW]

An alternative to match sticks...

I did use matchsticks between the boxes and crown board when it was really really hot days in the summer - and added a sun hat too

 

[drex]

What are all those holes for in the roof!?

To try out his new drill?

 

[Amari]

I did use matchsticks between the boxes and crown board when it was really really hot days in the summer - and added a sun hat too View attachment 22567

Ah, you live in Mid Wales and you put sun hats over your hives. SWMBO and I had four lovely days in Llangammarch Wells a few weeks ago but on a long walk I was getting really sunburnt on my bald pate. I redeployed my mask which I happened to have in my pocket.

 

[RichardBeeW]

Ah, you live in Mid Wales and you put sun hats over your hives. SWMBO and I had four lovely days in Llangammarch Wells a few weeks ago but on a long walk I was getting really sunburnt on my bald pate. I redeployed my mask which I happened to have in my pocket.

I’m lucky, as my mother was part hippo that’s where my nostrils are and so how I always wear my mask

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ah, you live in Mid Wales and you put sun hats over your hives. SWMBO and I had four lovely days in Llangammarch Wells a few weeks ago but on a long walk I was getting really sunburnt on my bald pate. I redeployed my mask which I happened to have in my pocket.

Stunning, Amari. Just stunning!

 

[Bee Bumble]

No offence intended Amari, but it just reminded me of this:

 

[Amari]

No offence intended Amari, but it just reminded me of this:

Tx, I'm very flattered ++.
Takes me back a bit: I was lucky to be at uni when John Cleese, David Frost et al, in their early days, earned their living by doing cabaret at various student doos, Annual Nurses' Ball etc.
Oh! for the return of satire! I must watch the reincarnated Spitting Image - tho' I read it's a pale shadow....

Sorry, off topic.

 

[Etton]

Worst day for wasps today, I think due to loads of heavy rain showers they couldn’t get on to the flowering ivy so they decided to spend the day by the hives. Only one apiary affected with entrances narrowed to one bee space. Also put out a few wasp traps.

 

[bobba]

I have 4 hives in a row. They have a tall hedge behind. In front and to the sides I have some of that green scaffolding netting put up. its about 1m away from the hies and 2m high.

Ideally I would like more room but space is in short supply.

Anyway, I saw 100s of wasps around, but very few would get inside the compound. Some days there would be little gangs of them trying to get in bashing their heads on the netting. A few wasps did get in the enclosure, but when confronted by a bee the wasps would mostly panic and fly into the netting, then panic even more and buzz off. Sometimes wasps would get stuck in the compound and bash their heads for hours trying to get out.

Its as if the odd wasp can find its way in but they are unable to call their m8s in for back up.

When I was removing supers, as soon as I was outside the compound the wasps were onto me. So I am convinced the netting around my hives helps keep the wasps out.

..................

When I was a nipper I worked in a pub. One year there was a wasp nest in the garden. As a temporary measure to help control the population I got a load of empty spirit bottles and placed then on a wall near the hive. There were about 15-20 bottles, mostly different, I think there was a lot of rum and gin. By the end of the shift Cinzano was the clear winner. It was about 1/3 full in about 5h. Some were ignored and some did ok, but Cinzano was king.

Many years later a friend was drinking a bottle of Cinzano and I told him the story. So for shiz and gigs we repeated the experiment with Cinzano, vodka and beer. We left the offerings under an apple tree and again Cinzano was the one they went for.

So if anyone has empty alcohol bottles give it a try. I reckon sweet stuff like Malibu or Archers would work best.

 

[BernardBlack]

When do wasps die off or hibernate? I thought they’d have p****d off by now!

Still a few circling around the hive entrance, although not getting in as there’s still plenty of activity.

 

[Erichalfbee]

When do wasps die off or hibernate? I thought they’d have p****d off by now!

Still a few circling around the hive entrance, although not getting in as there’s still plenty of activity.

When they run out of food and starve. They are quite resistant to cold and frosts don’t kill them off.
So when they ivy has gone probably.

 

[Antipodes]

Wasps numbers have exploded here. I noticed the bees gathering at the entrances, with good defence in numbers, but not really daring to forage. Wasps were pouncing on straggling bees (video 1) but the bees exacted "revenge"
View attachment VID_20210404_141832088.mp4
View attachment VID_20210404_143154541.mp4
in video 2.

 

[BugsInABox]

Wasps numbers have exploded here. I noticed the bees gathering at the entrances, with good defence in numbers, but not really daring to forage. Wasps were pouncing on straggling bees (video 1) but the bees exacted "revenge"
View attachment 25256
View attachment 25257
in video 2.

That’s proper (as my son would say).

 

[Nannysbees]

Home madeTraps around the garden seemed to be very successful last year, bought a few kids fishing nets and caught loads. God knows what the neighbours think seeing me in the garden waving a kids fishing net in the air, never mind for the greater good!!!

 

[madasafish]

We have large woods and neighbours gardens with trees so there are lots of places for wasps to nest..
Last year was the worst I had seen.. lost 1 hive, 1 nuc and 6 mini nucs with mated Qs to wasps.
Traps were full but it was like trying to keep back a flood with a paddle.

Trying to find nest is a waste of time. For the first time for years, we had none in our garden..

(In prior years we had one 2 meters from a hive which they ignored)

 

[Sutty]

Many years ago (when I last had bees) I had a different wasp problem. A single wasp would wait until a bee landed short of the entrance, would then attack from above and immediately bite off the bee's head, followed by the abdomen (and legs if I remember right), and would fly off with the thorax, presumably to feed it's larvae with the flight muscles. Little I could do about it, and not nice to watch!

 

[The Poot]

We have large woods and neighbours gardens with trees so there are lots of places for wasps to nest..
Last year was the worst I had seen.. lost 1 hive, 1 nuc and 6 mini nucs with mated Qs to wasps.
Traps were full but it was like trying to keep back a flood with a paddle.

Trying to find nest is a waste of time. For the first time for years, we had none in our garden..

(In prior years we had one 2 meters from a hive which they ignored)

It wasn’t a waste of time for me last year - I tracked down two which were fairly close to the apiary and resolved the problem I (and the bees) had.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Many years ago (when I last had bees) I had a different wasp problem. A single wasp would wait until a bee landed short of the entrance, would then attack from above and immediately bite off the bee's head, followed by the abdomen (and legs if I remember right), and would fly off with the thorax, presumably to feed it's larvae with the flight muscles. Little I could do about it, and not nice to watch!

That sounds more like a hornet to me. I've seem many hornets do it but never a wasp!