The apiary is now having a regular visitation from wasps. As a consequence, we are going to make a wasp trap as indicated by drbeekeeper on his website http://drbeekeeper.com/2013/08/the-battle-of-wasps-attacking-bees-heres-how-my-bees-are-winning/
Meanwhile, we have ordered a wasp tap-trap from our bee equipment supplier. Information about the trap can be found at https://www.taptrap.com/en/trap/tap-trap
The drbeekeeper trap is homemade but is designed specifically to trap wasps and not other pollinators. We shall see after our test.
The tap-trap is not as specific but has been around for a number of years and still sells. Again we will see what happens.
Whilst appreciating the role wasps play in the environment they are a nuisance in the apiary and will attempt to rob the hive.
We have also seen them attack young bees. They may be doing this to gain scent from the bee or to kill it and take it back to their nest for their larva?
On a more personal note, we have both had wasps around us when we open the hive and have no wish to be stung by them. Attempting to flick them away is not useful and causes agitation to both the wasps and the bees.
Alternatively, we may consider an artificial wasps nest which we can hang in a nearby tree to see if that reduces the wasps.
Ultimately we will use a combination of these methods to alleviate the wasp problem.
Because the wasps have been in the apiary for some time now we are concerned that the Asian hornet https://newbeekeeper.co.uk/2019/07/18/yellow-legged-hornet-or-asian-hornet/ will now visit us later in the summer. We will start to prepare for the possibility by making a monitoring trap as indicated at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR6MUekAjMo
After a weeks trial, the Tap Trap wasp catcher is working well and we have only caught wasps. We are using a simple mix of berry jam and water for this trap and will continue to monitor both trap and the bait mix.
Our success with the drbeekeeper has not been so good. However, that could be due to a number of reasons. Namely, the trap is not an exact copy of his, only having 2 entrances. The bait is different and it is situated outside the apiary on a low wall. Whereas the Tap Trap is in an arch amongst a flowering climber.
The bees are continuing to bring in nectar and the super is getting heavy. We are considering taking two full capped frames out of the super for extraction as there is plenty of food in the brood box and in the other frames in the super.
We will let you know what we decide next time.