What's the best beer to bait a wasp trap with?

 

Guiness

Hobgoblin

London Pride

Greene King IPA

Brakspeare's Bitter

Peroni

Desperados

It was really distressing last weekend to open up the G Bees' hive and find two bees valiantly wrestling with a wasp.  I helped them out by squashing the wasp with my hive tool and I helped chase out a second wasp.  My precious G Bees are under attack.

 

I put every wasp trap I could find in the apiary and the orchard nearby.  This weekend, wasps are still casing the apiary trying to find a way in to the hives.  

 

I inspected the contents of the traps to check they're working.   On average, we're catching about 70 wasps per trap per week.  This one is representative.

We also get about 10 European Hornets.

I'm not a big fan - the Summer they nested in our front porch and invaded our bedroom when we left the light on and the windows open was not fun but they don't hurt the bees and I don't mind if they nest at the bottom of the garden as long as they keep away from the house.

 

Unfortunately, we also get about the same number of moths.  There are so many I'm not attempting to identify this one, except I don't think it's a large wax moth.

We also get assorted black flies that are hard to identify after a week in a wasp trap.

 

So, I am on a mission to find a wasp trap attractant that attracts a higher proportion of wasps and a lower proportion of other insects.  Hence the beer.

 

This is also a test to see whether P ever reads our blog.  He was away playing cricket and I had the house to myself so I lined up all the different kinds of beer I could find so that I could choose which one to try in the wasp traps this week.   I should add that I don't drink beer.........  

 

For the first beer I chose Hobgoblin.  With 5.2% alcohol by volume this "Traditionally Crafted Legendary Ruby Beer" brewed by the Wychwood Brewery sounds like the magic potion I need.   One bottle wasn't enough for all the traps so I had to select another one!  Desperados is one I haven't heard of before but with 5.9% alcohol by volume and flavoured with Tequila, this beer that is brewed in France sounds as though it may do the trick.  (How come it's in our pantry?)

 

I have left one trap baited with the usual recipe ( see the blog for 3 August 2014) as a control.

 

After a couple of hours the signs are good - peering up under the traps I could see wasps settling into an alcoholic sleep at the bottom but no hornets so far.  Just as well because there are still wasps flying ominously around the hive looking for a way in.