I’ve made several traps in the past with varying degrees of success. Here’s one specifically designed that allows the yellow jackets to enter but not the honey bees. I think it is a 5/32 size hole. Last year I tinkered with the mix formula. Instead of totally sweet which would attract the honey bees I stumbled onto a mix of apple sauce, vinegar, and a spoonful of sugar (just enough to get a fermentation going). The yellow jackets like the CO2 and I think and the vinegar is not attractive to the honey bees. I used a 2 liter bottle and filled it about half way full in a short time. If you get your bait mix down it will not attract the bees at all and you can then open up the entrances for the yellow jackets.
great idea –
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So why do I want to kill wasps?
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Well Grove, If everyone would get along there would be no need to pick and choose sides. After all, yellow jackets are pollinators too. Down here in the South yellow jackets tend to get a bit big for there britches so to speak. Sometimes their colonies can get much larger than would be considered normal. Anyway, while minor pollinators, they are carnivores. Now, I don’t mind them keeping the bee yard clean of dead bees and other bugs. But they sometimes are greedy and decide they can get both their protein fix as well as a tasty sugar snack if they can just get inside that bee hive. A well populated bee hive will eject them. And as long as their local population is low enough the bees can handle the situation. However, there are times when their local population explodes and when that occurs they harass the bees relentlessly. During those times the bees need a little help.
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Thank for the rational answer. I agree that the wasps perform many services, and I see a wasp try to go inside a hive once in a while. Thou they rarely come out. At my current apiary I have not seen a large number of wasps attack a hive. I often see wasp traps in garden (no beehives kept), and am always interested why people just want to kill wasps willy-nilly. Then those folk spray for caterpillars, and I often tell them that wasps and hornets are carnivores and would protect their garden from many pests if they didn’t kill them. This is neither here nor there with beekeeping. Thank you for your insight into the epic struggle of wasp vs honeybees. –BernieBee (aka Grove Greenman)
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One of the funniest things I’ve seen was several years ago when my son and I were watching a hive entrance and a yellow jacket slipped in. We watched in anticipation and within 15 -30 seconds about 4 bees dragged the yellow jacket out and seemingly threw it off the landing board. What a hoot! On a practical note, I have stopped open feeding for the most part as I found feeding the yellow jacket and hornet population was counterproductive. Cheers.
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