High Efficiency Wasp Traps

I have made jam jar wasp traps for over thirty years and agree that they are not very efficient. (Wasps do escape)
Having seen the Wasp£$%! Trap advertised on the internet at over £20 and thinking that beekeepers have enough expenses I have had a go at making my own.
DIY High efficiency wasp traps can be made quite easily using a 2litre plastic bottle and a couple of silicone tube nozzles.
I melted four holes in the bottle about three quarters of the way up in opposite sides of the bottle.
Then using a sharp knife cut the nozzles about 3cm long from the threaded end and inserted it into one of the holes. Each nozzle will make 2 entrances and can be glued in place if required.
Popped the wasp bait into the bottom of the bottle and screwed the top back on. I have placed it in my garden this week and its beginning to fill up with wasps. They do not seem to escape.
Cost less than £1 to make and spare nozzles can be bought on the auction site quite cheaply.

My local store sells little plastic inserts. You cut a line in a plastic bottle, push it in, wasps get trapped inside, afterwards you remove inserts, the bottle seals itself where you cut it as the plastic springs back into place and you just throw the whole thing in the dustbin. Inserts are reusable and you get four for a pound!!
E

I just bought one of the expensive W..B..'s traps to see how it performs, will report back in a week.
Have you folks any pics of the traps you made?

enrico said:

My local store sells little plastic inserts. You cut a line in a plastic bottle, push it in, wasps get trapped inside, afterwards you remove inserts, the bottle seals itself where you cut it as the plastic springs back into place and you just throw the whole thing in the dustbin. Inserts are reusable and you get four for a pound!!
E

Click to expand...

What is the full name of the inserts you are using (I mean, are they called wasp trap inserts?) and any chance of the picture of them in action in a homemade trap?

CVB

My own Hi efficiency traps work very well...

http://tinyurl.com/k9x5wjl

madasafish said:

My own Hi efficiency traps work very well...

http://tinyurl.com/k9x5wjl

Click to expand...

No expense spared does that not allow bees in as well?

Anybody want to tell me what optimal drill bit size for holes to allow wasps but not bees, is it 5mm?

4 for a pound

On sale at our local garage shop

joctcl said:

Anybody want to tell me what optimal drill bit size for holes to allow wasps but not bees, is it 5mm?

Click to expand...

I think that the choice of bait is the key. Use a bait that doesn't attract bees and add some cider vinegar to the mix.

charlievictorbravo said:

What is the full name of the inserts you are using (I mean, are they called wasp trap inserts?) and any chance of the picture of them in action in a homemade trap?

CVB

Click to expand...

Exactly as John above has posted.... They work a treat! ( thanks John!)
E

joctcl said:

No expense spared does that not allow bees in as well?

Anybody want to tell me what optimal drill bit size for holes to allow wasps but not bees, is it 5mm?

Click to expand...

I add raspberries, sugar and water.. and a dash of vinegar.

Bees don't like vinegar. They are also away from the hives..I just cut a flap with a knife. As long as the top of the hole includes the top of the flap, wasps get in and cannot get out. About 50mm wide..

Cheapo prune juice from any super market is a good wasp bait !
VM

joctcl said:

I just bought one of the expensive W..B..'s traps to see how it performs, will report back in a week.
Have you folks any pics of the traps you made?

Click to expand...

Ok just checked the trap tonight and it had 7 scouts in it, definitely scouts as they all had woggles
Thanks to John I ordered a couple of those plastic inserts from fleabay and plan is to do a side by side test along with a pierced lid in a jam jar.
Only thing that will not be directly comparable will be formulation of W B attractant, which apart from the honey and my homebrew will be different.

Before you conclude the results of you scientific comparison, consider this:
1. Have you fully understood the principle of the W******e trap? Have you attended the one day course available to professionals?
2. Do you really think a scientist would squander their career and major investor's money on a badly designed and researched product?

Good luck. I've already predicted the results.

Itchy said:

Before you conclude the results of you scientific comparison, consider this:
1. Have you fully understood the principle of the W******e trap? Have you attended the one day course available to professionals?
2. Do you really think a scientist would squander their career and major investor's money on a badly designed and researched product?

Good luck. I've already predicted the results.

Click to expand...

1. I have been fascinated in reading Karols posts on this forum to significantly increase my knowledge of wasps and their behavioral traits so much so that I have invested £31.43 in a W B trap.

No I haven't spent £245 in attending a course, and don't see that as relevant to my requirements, I have no desire to take up pest control as a career.

2. Thats a grossly unfair taunting statement both to me and the person you are referring to and one I am not even going to comment on.

Please share if you already know the result.

I've never studied the high efficiency trap. My whole take is simple.

No attractants for wasps anywhere near my hives.

Strong colonies and reduced entrances such that any wasps which might gain access are either I) chased out pronto, or ii) carried out a few minutes later - dead.

This system has worked for years. It didn't take me long to realise that attracting wasps to site is a baaad idea.

There are always going to be some wasps lurking around - they are opportunists.

Not had a wasp problem for years, now. Far better to avoid problems than trying to fix them, especially where wasps are concerned. Obviously one and two hive owners don't have the lattitude I have, but anyone that actively attracts wasps towards their colonies should expect those colonies to be tested by the wasps. If they fail the test, you are in trouble!

You can also be sure that if one colony is robbed out, the wasps will move their attention to the next weaker (or weakest) colony in the line, in even stronger numbers. Think about it.

RAB

Valid point but wasps will surely pick up on honey smell in supers so there is an attractant right there already?
All my hives have reduced entrances all year round, but last year wasps were a plague and with no traps of any kind I had a hive completely robbed out as a result. A fellow beek also claimed wasps were stings bees through open mesh floors.
If wasps are chased out they come back with their friends and its this I want to prevent.
I guess what I am trying with the high efficiency traps is to lure in the scouts that don't report back and return with their chums so I am not looking for large quantities of dead wasps in the traps but will want to observe numbers of scout wasps escaping.

joctcl said:

I guess what I am trying with the high efficiency traps is to lure in the scouts that don't report back and return with their chums so I am not looking for large quantities of dead wasps in the traps but will want to observe numbers of scout wasps escaping.

Click to expand...

RAB's point is well made. The critical thing about any wasp trap is that nothing escapes, which is the problem with a jam jar with holes in the lid. If you can be sure that NO wasps will escape, and it's a big IF, then a wasp trap may be the answer to a problem that may not, according to RAB, exist. Is that clear?

CVB

"2. Do you really think a scientist would squander their career and major investor's money on a badly designed and researched product?"

Not intended as such, more to illustrate the point that these were not invented as a money maker. Didn't mean to offend.

Doing a comparison is not actually going to tell you anything because all traps will be different, as will be the lures.

As per RAB, I'd do this away from your bees, but have the W****.*%*e in the correct position to intercept.

I rather suspect you have worked out the results for yourself already, but let us know.

Those traps may seem expensive, but you get refills, and the pots last all year long. What I wasn't happy with was donating my lager to the wasps!