Banded Paper Wasp.......driving the girls crazy

[Captain776]

I have banded paper wasps hovering in front of my hives.
I have reduced the openings.
Seems like 2-4 are constantly hovering back and forth and sometimes I see one flying off with a bee in its mouth.
I put on fluorescent green plastic rain gear with a veil (must have been quite a sight) and armed myself with the electronic tennis racket type thing and was able to kill 3 of them this morning.
The racket doesn't kill them instantly but will knock them out if mid air so you can stomp on them.
It was very quiet over there for the rest of the day but now 6 pm and I see 3 or 4 more there which I will get tomorrow.
But surely there is a nest here somewhere, just hope it is a small one.

The girls have to be ON GUARD all day, 200 Honeybees on the porch to prevent the paper wasp from being able to land.
I see quite a few dead bees in front of hive.

Have any of you had a similar problem? What did you do?

[Hops Brewster]

Wasp traps.
It's likely you don't have a Lowes around the corner from you in Thailand, but perhaps  you'll find a wasp/hornet trap for sale somewhere, similar to this.  https://www.rescue.com/products/traps/reusable-yellowjacket-trap/

Barring that, see if you can learn the local recipe for them.
A home made trap is easy to make.  Cut off the top funnel-shaped portion of a water or soda bottle.  insert it into the bottle, top down and staple it together.   Add an inch or 2 of Sprite or sugar water and a bit of a hot dog or a pinch raw burger for bait.  Wasp finds it's way into the trap for the bait, doesn't find it's way out.

[Milo]

If they are after protein (bees) to feed to their larvae - will they take mince/ground raw meat instead?

If like European wasps they go the meat then add some borax and they may take it home and kill the nest for you

[Captain776]

I did make 2 traps today..........orange juice in the bottom with a chunk of hotdog hanging on a thread suspended above the juice.

Stay tuned?

I see one wasp out there now, and will suit up in a bit and see if I can kill a few more.

I don't want one of these banded wasps to nail me plus we have Japanese Hornets which have a 6mm stinger.

I will have my wife take a video or pictures today when I do warfare with the wasps.

[BeeMaster2]

Waiting to see those pictures. 
Jim

[Captain776]

Waiting to see those pictures. 
Jim

I killed 3 the other day and then didn't see any, all the girls were relaxed and not 300 bees on each landing area, then 3-4 more showed up this afternoon.........so I suited up, they are no longer with us.

There was a chain of bees, 1.5 inches in diameter and hanging 8" down from bottom board, then part of the cluster finally fell to the ground......then they stayed there in a ball, ina few mns they flew back up to the box. They were killing a Wasp, when the honeybees left, there was a barely alive Paper Wasp.
I think we are winning.

Bruce

[tycrnp]

LOL!!!  I have the wasp traps AND the racket.  I'm not brave enough to use the racket on wasps; I reserve that for flies.   

[Bush_84]

Would a robber screen be beneficial?  It seems that they are after bees instead of honey, but it would provide them a safe place to guard from. I know nothing about these wasps but they sound pretty big. They may not be able to get through the entrance to the robber screen. Bees can sit inside the screen and guard within the saftey of the robber screen.

[Captain776]

Would a robber screen be beneficial?  It seems that they are after bees instead of honey, but it would provide them a safe place to guard from. I know nothing about these wasps but they sound pretty big. They may not be able to get through the entrance to the robber screen. Bees can sit inside the screen and guard within the saftey of the robber screen.

I think so and will plan for this currently only wood blocks to reduce my entrances

[Captain776]

Waiting to see those pictures. 
Jim

The pic of me suited up is already here.

LQQk at the Stinger on this guy......click n zoom, so you get the full effect

[TxKronik]

holy crap that's no joke

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[Dabbler]

I enjoyed the dichotomy of veil/yellow suit/gloves vs. sandals/bare feet.   

[Captain776]

I enjoyed the dichotomy of veil/yellow suit/gloves vs. sandals/bare feet.   

The first 2 times I was bare foot, since then, I am wearing sneakers..........can't imagine taking that dagger in the top of the foot, but I just had a cortisone injection in my heel..........so probably about the same pain level

[tycrnp]

I enjoyed the dichotomy of veil/yellow suit/gloves vs. sandals/bare feet.   

Ditto! Lol!!!

[Captain776]

Out there again this morning, usually only 1-3 come at a time.
Today I stood out there for 15 minutes and killed 7 of them.
They don't seem to be attracted to the Wasp traps I made.
I took the ones I killed today and crushed them and rubbed them on the trap entrances, not sure that will do anything or not.
I use the racket to stun them and knock them down long enough to finish them off.
They give off a Pheromne when killed. The next one(s) that show up go right to the spot I stepped on one which makes it easy to get that one also.
After I kill them, then I don't see anymore for 1-3 days.
Be great to find their nest but I probably have a better chance of getting pregnant.
I live in the country surrounded by jungle and rice paddies, they could be anywhere.

[tycrnp]

Maybe try something like this:  https://youtu.be/dsd-lAUmb0A

[Hops Brewster]

Seems the methods we us in the States for our species ain't working for your Thai hornets. 
Suggest you ask the old timers in your area if they have a solution.

[BeeMaster2]

Wow, that is impressive.
Jim

[sc-bee]

Does not look like a wasp to me... looks like a type of hornet.....

[Captain776]

I double checked.......Google or Yahoo
Banded Paper Wasp.........it is exactly what I have here.