Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => DISEASE & PEST CONTROL => Topic started by: Cindi on January 10, 2007, 10:06:30 am
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I was reading on a site about control of the wax moth (lesser and greater) (also works for that hideous bald faced hornet), that one is a doozy!!! The suggestion was to mix water, vinegar and a banana peel, allowing to ferment a little. This mixture having been put in a 2 ltre pop bottle with hole made on the neck.
My question is: why banana peel? not plain and simply fruit. I know that beer works excellently too though.
The bald faced hornet (and yellowjackets) are a wonderful predator of unfriendly insects in the garden, I know that. But I have seen them attacking my colonies this past summer, (even the colonies that were strong). So, I am on a mission to keep the population of the bald faced hornet and yellowjacket under control.
It is a terrible sight when you see these predators land on the bottomboard for a second and grab a guard bee quickly and fly away. I don't like that and will try to deter this from occurring in my beeyard. Great day. Cindi
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Banana? My yellowjackects prefer meat. They say the banana for me.
I have post this slide over there, but it is so interesting when I see the bee revolution against the predators...
In the first photo the bees can´t go work because the siege...only any brave bee comes back with pollen; second the wasps are angrier and are "visiting" the entrance to obtein botin...pirates!...; third, the mass revolution...and finally...the battle field.
http://album.miarroba.com/merops_apiaster/6/slide/
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For the yellow jackets, during some times of the year the banana will work better and other times the meat will work better. The banana seems to work well all the time for the wax moths. I think it's as much a deterrent for the bees as an attractant for the moths.
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I think your "yellow jackets" might be what we call "Europen Wasps" evil things they are, like to sneak into soft drink cans, love meat, hang around rubbish bins in parks.
Me old mate Ted Kelly, ex A.I.F. got stung under the eye once at the football. He said it was more pain than when he was shot in 1943.
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i bait my yellow jacket traps with cat food. seems to work really well. i tried all kinds of different things, then observed the buggers on the cat food dish. ah ha! and that's what I've used ever since.
as for banana skins....bananas releases ethylene as they ripen. maybe the gas drives off the moths? the whole banana will produce methane as it rots.....
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Cindi
I use the same thing except i add sugar to mine and boy do i catcch all kinds of moths and other predetars of my girls. But i found out not to place it where your girls are because that tends to draw all sorts but this pass summer i had to replace six and i never had any problems with any moths. Yellow jackets well they were a pain this fall but my girls took care of them and the bumble bees they were a pain in the spring it was nothing for me to go and look in front of my hives to find three to four dead but this stuff works and i let mine sit in a warm room for a couple of days to really get it smelling.
Tom
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I stay away from them critters
kirk-o
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For the yellow jackets, during some times of the year the banana will work better and other times the meat will work better.
If you live in bear country (I have about 60 black bears and 12-20 brownies living in my area), I recommend against using meat, unless you want to attract them, too. IMO, better a dead hive than an utterly destroyed hive. At least wasps leave the hardware intact.