Wasps

[Gaz1]

So I'm not being stupid am I this is a wasp isn't it? Thing that's confusing is they are all crawling over the leaves not aggressive, beehive is no more than 5meters away and they don't take any notice is it just that they are young or is it some sort of bee which looks very similar bout 20 at least buzzing around the bush

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes, wasps.
Probably found some honeydew

 

[Gaz1]

Ye knew it just normally they are pesting over your food/drink take it the nest is Inside the hedge then

 

[Swarm]

I watched a Wasp on my Brussels Sprouts on the weekend, it was syphoning up little pools of water. Quite a surprising amount and very quick.

 

[Karol]

I was going to say the same Swarm. Looks like there's quite a few droplets on the leaves. Wasps use water for climate control. They posit it on the outside of their nest and the sentries then beat their wings to help it evaporate off which provides the cooling effect.

 

[Erichalfbee]

How clever

 

[Geohorn]

I watched a wasp darting back and forth over a bird water bath and it then stopped at the edge and sucked up some water, was there for a few minutes slurping away.

 

[Gaz1]

So as long as they deem my hive to be strong they will continue to ignore it? Cant see me finding the source of them hedge is 10ft long and 6ft high!!at the minute they show no interest

 

[Karol]

If the wasps are taking up water then this is a pretty good sign that they are still in their growth (hunting) phase so are unlikely to be interested in your hive. They will only show interest once they have finished the procreative phase and the nest has gone into decline and they start direct sweet feeding.

 

[Roola]

Could be they are collecting dead bees outside the hive. This regularly happens outside mine, they tend to chew the head off freshly dead or dying bees and take the abdomen away.

 

[Gaz1]

Not yet only showed up a few days ago though just staying on the bush

 

[Karol]

Thank you for pointing that out Roola. During the hunting phase wasps will clear away dead bees to feed their brood. That said these dead bees are no longer part of the hive so this activity is not a direct threat.

 

[Robbo8916]

When we were looking for my new queens the other week we found a wasp wandering round on a frame of foundation. Could be that it dived in when we opened up the hive and walked away for a minute to get the smoker going again but was a bit of a surprise!

Normally find the odd dead wasp outside the nuc, they are very apt at murdering the buggers. Both hives are stronger now and not seen any signs of them trying to get in. They are always about near the ivy and brambles behind the hives though.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes...we are getting the odd wasp at inspections, diving onto the frames as we lift them out; odd one in the traps too

 

[Gaz1]

Yes...we are getting the odd wasp at inspections, diving onto the frames as we lift them out; odd one in the traps too

That's my next problem when I go to do my next inspection!

 

[Millet]

That's my next problem when I go to do my next inspection!

I'm no expert but from my experience with wasps last year they are not a problem when inspecting, you get the odd one chancing there luck but the bees sharp fettle them, the problem i did find with wasps on a colony that was steadily building up and not yet at full strength, was the wasps robbing the original entrance block, once that was modified and a WaspBane trap put in place at the back end of August all was fine.