To catch a queen
- 8 minutes ago
- 4 min read
August heralds the end of winter. August is also the time to start catching new queen wasps as they emerge from hibernation. We’re talking German and common wasps, Vespula wasps, to be more precise. They’re the yellow and black striped chunky ones that have awful stings.
Wasp control is vital for protecting our native species, and the bee industry. These wasps can kill native birds and insects. They eat the food that our native species need to survive. They can destroy beehives, and impact food-producing industries. They cost NZ over $100,000,000 a year. High wasp populations can make enjoying the outdoors unpleasant or even unsafe. They are the most invasive wasp we have. The more we can control their numbers, the better for our biodiversity, and food security.
Local environmentalist Nikki Slade-Robinson has shared some hands-on advice. She says, catching the new queens now stops a nest developing. We only have a short window (approx. 23 - 48 days) each year, during early spring, when queen wasps can be targeted and caught in traps. At this time new queens are foraging for food, to raise their first batch of 'worker' wasps. Once a queen has established a nest, she stops foraging and instead stays inside the nest to produce more wasps. It is then the worker wasps who go out collecting food. So it is vital to get traps out in August through spring to catch the queens right at the start of this cycle.
By late summer, a nest can become the size of a 10-litre bucket and produce tens of thousands of worker wasps. The nest will also produce hundreds to thousands of queens, who will then continue the cycle by hibernating over winter, ready to set up more new nests the following year. Unchecked, the wasp population can really boom: the highest density recorded was 50-60 nests per hectare (that’s 25 – 30 nests on a rugby field), and about 10,000 wasps per hectare. Stand on their nest and they can swarm and attack en masse leading to multiple painful stings – not safe for anyone who is allergic.
How to catch a queen? You'll need a trap, and a lure. You can buy the 'No Pests Wasp Lure' from places such as Farmlands. To wasps, it is a super sexy lure - it contains a pheromone, so is highly effective at attracting the wasps. It is non-toxic - it doesn't poison the wasps, rather, they go into the trap and drown. One litre of this lure will run one 'No Pests' dome trap for the queen-trapping season. This lure has also been designed to be unattractive to other insects, including bees.
There are other lure products available, and there are home-made lure recipes, but the No Pests lure in my experience is by far the most effective. If you are using other brands of commercial lure, please ensure it has a bee deterrent in it. If you are going to make your own lure (a recipe is at the end of this article), it is vital you include vinegar in the mix, as this discourages bees.
You can buy traps to put the lure in - for example the No Pests Dome Trap. Or you can make your own from two plastic bottles (a diagram is at the end of this article). If you can’t find enough plastic bottles, check out your local resource recovery centre’s plastic bottle bay.
Hang your trap in a place with a reasonable amount of sun. As the lure warms up, the scent will be stronger to attract wasps. Too much sun and the lure can evaporate, not enough and it doesn’t warm up so well. The lure is non-toxic and as the wasps die by drowning, there needs to be sufficient lure in the trap for this to happen. Avoid hanging your trap right in the middle of a flower garden where bees frequent, just to be safe. If you’re rural, the bush-pasture margin and/or on ridgetops can be good locations. Check the traps weekly. In particular, if you are using a homemade lure, you need to be sure you're not catching bees - if you are, remove the trap. When you are refreshing the lure in the trap, make sure there is no lure residue left on the outside of the trap as that can attract ants and other insects.
For reference, queens are over 18mm long, workers are under 17mm long. Note – paper wasps don’t go into these traps. Paper wasps are the ones with skinny ‘waists’. There are many introduced paper wasp species now, in a range of colours and stripes.
Check out this Landcare Research webpage too - it has really interesting information on these wasps, it’s well worth a read!
So – while she won’t be wearing a crown or jewels, every queen you catch this spring is a win. Please get trapping! Spread the word! Maybe even have a competition in your area to see who can catch the most queens!
Download this diagram to guide you making your own trap and check out the home-made wasp trap lure below.
Home-made wasp trap lure - enough for one trap.
250ml pineapple juice or similar
1 Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp vinegar - IMPORTANT as this discourages bees.
couple of drops dishwashing liquid
can add a scrap of meat for protein.
Mix to dissolve sugar… hang in sun, it seems to be more effective once it’s started fermenting.
