Tartago® dry harp kit: harp and solar module with lithium battery

01 · HOW IT WORKS

It works without attractant: it goes in the flight path

The harp uses no attractant, light or bait. The Asian hornet hunts by lying in wait, hovering in front of the entrances and moving from one to the next, so the harp goes between two neighbouring hives, at right angles to their fronts: the hornet crosses the wires, while the bees fly straight out without passing through. The discharge can stun a hornet that touches two wires and drop it into the hopper. The 20 mm spacing helps bees get through, but does not rule out bycatch. If it catches little, watch the hornets' flight path and check the power supply, connectors, clean insulators and wire spacing.

02 · NO WATER

The hopper collects what falls

What falls does not go into a water tray: the base of the harp has a hopper that collects it dry. There is no water to top up and the harp does not need to be perfectly level. A bee that falls in by accident gets out through escape holes the hornet cannot pass through.

The hornet stays in the hopper and, with no water to drown it, may still be alive: check it often and do not release it or carry it alive, as it is an invasive alien species.

It does not need a bottle, but there is room for one if pressure is very high and the hopper falls short. The bottle is not included: the instructions explain how to make one from a plastic bottle, with its own bee escape, because a bee that goes into the bottle cannot come back.

How it compares with the water-tray harp:

Everything else is the same: 60 cm wide, 0.35 mm stainless wire at 20 mm and the same electric modules.

03 · WITHOUT SUN

The module stores energy for when the panel cannot keep up

A solar module without a battery only converts what the panel produces at each moment: at night it gives no current. This one has 8.7 Ah lithium batteries and, according to the manufacturer, supplies current from early morning until late afternoon and can keep it up for several days without sun. This is the manufacturer's statement, not a set autonomy for every installation: check the charge and that it is working, especially after cloudy spells. It fixes to the harp with its bracket, which has a mounting point on the harp, and has about 1.5 m of cable with the same moisture-proof connector as the other Tártago modules. If you add harps later, it takes up to five, the most Tártago recommends so as not to lose catching power. Face the panel south with no shade over it: the battery only stores what the panel manages to charge.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It comes as a kit, with instructions and assembly videos, and the harp goes together without special tools. Disconnect the module before handling the harp, as with any energiser. If you are going to combine it with Tártago harps or extensions you already have from 2024 or earlier, ask us before ordering: 2024 ones need a connector adapter. And it helps to know what it is: protection for the apiary, not eradication. It can reduce attacks at the entrance, depending on installation and management; it does not remove the hornet from the area.