There is a thread on [beekeepingforum.co.uk](https://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk)
about wasps and a wasp expert (Karol) explains some useful stuff about how to
deter them.
He points out that...
- Wasp traps should be upwind of a beehive. If downwind, the wasps may ignore
it and go for the attractive hive scent (its plume).
- An efficient wasp trap may not have many wasps in it. By "efficient" he means
"it kills all the wasps that enter, none escape". So no scout wasps get away to
tell their friends "I found this great food source". Thus, counter-intuitively,
an efficient (i.e. good) wasp trap will probably have fewer wasps in it than a
low efficiency one. Whereas a trap with lots of wasps in it can be a sign that
it is acting as an attractor for wasps to the area - the escapees go recruit
friends - a trap full of wasps may actually be worse for your hives! What you
want is to create a zone where any wasps who venture in, never return.
- A low efficiency trap is best placed far from your hive so it doesn't attract
wasps to your hive, but lowers the background population of wasps.
- Early in the year, wasps are raising young and want protein, so they carry
off entire insects and larvae. But around now (and more so as Autumn
approaches) they get short of nectar and are looking for other carbohydrate
sources. So they grab bees on the landing board, and rip their head off to get
at the honey / nectar in their abdomen(!!!)
- You can gauge their reasons for attacking bees by whether they are ripping
bees apart on the spot and discarding the remains, or flying off with them
after removing the head and wings and legs.
- "When wasps take bee abdomens for nectar, they don't communicate this back to
the hive in the same way as they would a rich residual food source such as when
they get to the comb so you don't get the same level of swarm feeding. That
said, if they are taking bees it's not a good portent for the autumn when
things tighten up carb wise so it might be wise to keep a closer eye on the
hive as autumn draws in."
I think this means that wasp traps baited with sweet / alcohol smelling stuff
are more attractive in the later part of the year, while ones baited with meat
/ fish are more attractive to wasps when they are raising brood earlier in the
year.
Of course wasps are good for gardens, they eat aphids and caterpillars. I
recently advised one neighbour to just leave a nest alone as it would do more
good than harm. It was well away from my hives.
Paul
