Preventive bait.
If you checked the Asian Hornet tab, you now have a better idea of their diet. Thus, at the beginning of the season (around March) you can place honey and beeswax in the bait bin. This attracts a lot of queens looking to feed themselves. If you don’t have honey or wax, don’t panic, sugar-saturated syrup or very ripe fruits are also very effective. You can of course mix several types of bait. It is important to be very generous about the amount of bait because the more odour there is and the greater the range of action of the trap. Thus, filling the entire bait bin to a height of about 1 cm and a half is ideal.
Curative Bait.
During August, even before if you already found workers, you can add meat bait such as fish sticks, nuoc mam sauce, leftover barbecue, cat food with salmon… What’s important is that it smells strong for hornets to be attracted. From time to time, pouring a few centilitres of beer (prefer a very sweet beer like tequila beer, red fruit beer, etc.) into the bait bin is advisable, the yeast present inside will create a fermentation of the bait and you will understand: increase its smell.
the habit.
Be careful, some baits may work in a department and less well a few hundred km away because in some areas nature is more generous in potential prey.
Beekeepers must first divert attention from the hornets who have become accustomed to using bees in the beehive. To do this, place the meat bait in the open air where you want to put your PACT. After a day or two, the hornets will have become accustomed to come and refuel there. You can then install the PACT while keeping the same bait by adding honey products.
It is important to leave dead hornets in the trap as they will continue to spread pheromones that will attract their congeners.
Setting up trap.
Once the bait is in place in the bin, place over the catch cage equipped with the selective access modules. If you bought a lid, close the cage with it. It is important to add a roof (even if you bought a lid, the lid is not a roof) for several reasons;
Prevent light from filtering.
Prevent rain from entering and drowning the bait. To do this, the roof must exceed by at least 15 cm on all sides.
The roof must be opaque so that insects not targeted by this device can find the exit. It is important to place a weight on the roof to prevent the wind from blowing (a cinder block is ideal). The roof can be a wooden board for example, you can buy it in any DIY store or recover a wooden or metal board.
We don’t provide the roof because the size of the roof would disproportionally increase port costs.
For the protection of your apiary, We recommend the use of XL capture tray because its size and the amount of bait present will give more fragrance and will be more attractive than your hives.
For small apiaries (up to about 8 hives), one trap at the back of your hive line is sufficient.
For slightly larger apiaries (up to 20 hives), two traps are needed, one trap at the entrance and one at the exit is more effective.
Finally, for large apiaries, we recommend using three traps: one at the entrance, one at the exit and one on the back of your hives.
It is important that the traps are placed at least one meter fifty from the hives so that the pheromones of the trapped hornets do not stress your bees, limiting their honey production.
In early spring, it is imperative to remove f rom the hive any dead or weak hives that would compete with your PACT for the honey it contains and therefore the scents it produces.
If you feel the soul of a handyman, you can quite build your own capture cage. For this you can use an old hive (dead) or a wine box or any container with a minimum size of 30x40x20cm. Then, by cutting two 135 by 197mm windows, you can place two selective access modules at the entrances. The bottom must be openwork and equipped with a very fine mesh that will prevent access to the bait.
Trap didn't work ?
If you don’t see a catch but you see Asian hornets, there are a number of factors that can explain that, including the fact that the flagrance is not well distributed.
You can turn your trap to 45 degrees or 90 degrees to position it in the direction of the wind.
You can also move your trap to position it in a wind corridor.
It is also important that you do not use a “bottle” trap near our PACT as it will develop more smells and therefore decrease the appeal of the capture tray.
If your honey/wax has hardened, due to too cold temperatures, you can pour a little beer on it or place the trap in the sun.
If you think you have done everything correctly and that despite that you do not notice any catches, do not hesitate to contact us so that we analyze together the causes.
Make your own trap.
If you feel the soul of a handyman, you can realize your own trap. Whether for the aesthetic aspect, custom dimensions or for the pleasure of tinkering, everyone finds it interesting.
Nevertheless, we have some recommendations for you:
The minimum internal dimension of the capture tray must be 30x40x20cm to avoid that the breakage view reducer is too close.
The bait bin should not be too deep as the closer it is to the mesh (which must be very thin to prevent access to the bait) the more it will emit.
Avoid paints with solvent and other chemicals (staining) that could repel hornets. A food paint is ideal.
Finally, for the roof, any board/sheet will do the trick (a side of washing machine rebuilt for example). Do not hesitate to post your creations on the Facebook page, we will be happy to highlight them.
Below is a video tutorial.
Maintenance of trap and precautions.
Finally, it is recommended to place the trap slightly in height, whether on an old garden table or on cinder blocks for example. At least thirty centimetres to prevent creepers from entering or interfering with its operation.
At the end of the season (around mid-October) the hornets entering diapause, the number of catches should decrease and then stop. You can then clean your bait tray and store your trap under cover to replace it in early spring. This will increase the lifespan of your trap but is not mandatory, our traps are resistant to rain and cold. Dead hornets will make delicious treats for your chickens, pigs or hedgehogs.
We strongly recommend that you do not lift the roof of your trap if it contains live hornets inside to prevent them from escaping. However, if you have to do it for any reason, choose night or early morning.
Do not let children manipulate the trap. To prevent it from being opened, you can attach one of our lids to your trap by drilling them and using clamps.