Spring in Australia and the wasp queens are out and about. If you don’t kill them now there will be hundreds of these introduced pests everywhere come summer to spoil your barbecue or sting your kids. Last year I managed to tread on a European wasp’s nest and was bitten dozens of times. Let me tell you it was not pleasant, and the swelling and irritation from the bites lasted for many days. People who are allergic could easily be killed, likewise pets.
Simple milk bottle trap.
You can easily kill them with simple milk bottle traps. You can use the recipe below (but you will kill some other insects too, such as bees. A poisoned meat bait is better as it will only kill wasps and the occasional blow-fly (if the wasps allow it near the rotting meat. You can easily make a poisoned meat bait from mince and a readily available spot-on (dog) flea chemical. If only one household per suburban block did this we would eradicate the wasp from our cities.
The Kiwis are wiping out European wasps. Let’s do it too. Lobby your pollie: https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/wasp-wipeout/87865462/the-weapon-to-wipe-out-wasps-the-story-of-vespex–wasp-wipeout?rm=m
‘For those who would like queen lure here it is again:Use a 1.25 L soft drink bottle with 3, 10mm holes, approx. 150mm from bottom of bottle. Make up a solution 8 tablespoons of honey in hot water with a 2 teaspoons pure vanilla essence Queen red label 35% alcohol this will do 4-5 traps, divide bait between traps, top up with water to just below holes replace cap and hang in a sunny spot in garden, near water. Fruit trees with curly leaf is a good place, bait will take a week or so to activate. Shake every few days to let bait dribble out .keep in place until January. Strain out when full, reuse and top up bait with water. Replace bait every 4-5 weeks Will also catch workers Jan-April plus flies.’ European Wasp Control Project Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/927515897312332/
Left European Wasp; Right native Paper Wasp.
I bought one 2.68ml pipette of Frontline (large dog) from my local Safeway store for A$17 (April 2018). Diluted 100 times (268 mls) with water this was (or will be) enough to prepare 52 x 20 gram minced meat baits (I bought 24 x 20 grams meatballs from Safeway for $6) which I simply slipped into a used plastic milk bottle I had drilled a few 12mm holes in and hung in the garden after training the wasps for a couple of days with unbaited mince. That single purchase should kill very wasp within 200 metres of our property for several years!
Instructions for preparing poisoned baits here and here:
Sorry, I see the links are now broken. ‘Big Brother’ at work no doubt. Just mix the above solution thoroughly into your mince works well.
NB: European wasps are introduced pests in Australia and New Zealand. The meat baits carefully protected like this will not in my experience kill any native creatures. (Blow Flies are also an introduced pest – at least the sheep one is!).
See Also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/eradicate-european-wasps/
Now don’t get me wrong, I have a huge fear of wasps and have been k ow to abandon my own children to fend for themselves and run when one comes near BUT…. Wasps are a key element to the eco system. They are a predator, and there would be a huge knock on effect on the ecosystem. This is because wasps protect plant life, crops, and other creatures from spiders, millipedes, flies, caterpillars, aphids, the world would be overrun with these creature if it wasn’t for wasps and that would have a catastrophic effect on crops and therefore our main food source.
Hi Helen, European wasps are an invasive species recently introduced to Australia. They are actually having a devastating environmental effect here. It would be a good idea to control or eradicate them. This can be done (using the methods outlined) without harming anything else. You clearly haven’t been outside for a picnic lately when these things are around. Cheers, Steve.
Darn – your hyperlinks for bait instructions are no longer active!!
Can we get that info from you some other way?
Sorry, I see the links are now broken. ‘Big Brother’ at work no doubt. Just mix the above solution thoroughly into your mince works well.
I’m lying in bed with hives and itchiness all over my body from head to toes atm as I’ve just got stung twice by some European wasps today. Got swollen lips, my throat is feeling funny and chest a bit tight. Was doing gardening but searched online seeing it’s better to keep still. So my son told me there’s a wasp nest in the hedges and hundreds of them flying around. Apparently there are some people walking past the hedges got stung before and after me. I will definitely try some traps you mentioned- thank you so much for sharing your ideas.
European wasps are worst at this time of year. Next year bait the queens in the spring and you will have no wasps within half a kilometre for the whole year. Cheers, Steve.
First of all, wasps don’t bite humans, they sting. Secondly, are you seriously advocating the annihilation of an essential element of the ecosystem, purely based on the fact you find them ‘irritating’? Shame on you – call yourself a lover of the wilderness?
Please, stay at home and meditate on the wonderful complexity of Nature and the importance of maintaining a balance with all of its elements. Yes, that even includes protecting those things that can cause you a minor discomfort. If you can’t handle that, watch Nature programmes on TV in your safe, air-conditioned, bug-free home; the wilderness doesn’t need you.
These things are introduced pests in Australia and New Zealand which I certainly am advocating that we exterminate. Pull your head in and stop being rude. I will not tolerate keyboard warriors on my website. Cheers, Steve. PS: I take particular exception to people using aliases!
I am making a dozen of these traps tomorrow. I have been stung bitten etc by these pests.
Go for it Ross. Since we started doing this we are no longer visited by the little monsters. If even 10% of people did they would be extinct. Cheers, Steve.