Asian hornet trap Vetopharma®

01 · HOW IT CATCHES

The tunnel guides the hornet and the liquid does the rest

The lid's two entrances sit under a tunnel that concentrates and directs the bait's scent, blocks the light and makes it hard for the hornet to find its way out; the yellow bowl is also a colour hornets are drawn to. Inside, whatever falls into the liquid drowns. It catches well and costs little, but it is not very selective: flies, common wasps and the odd bee end up in the same cup, because it has no escape holes for small insects and no adjustable entrance.

02 · WHEN AND WHERE

At the apiary under attack, not all year round

Its place is the apiary with hornets already hawking at the entrances, in summer and autumn. Hang it by its hook from a branch 1.5-3 m above the ground, or set it next to the hives, on the ground or on a stand, once daily highs pass 15 °C. It takes a few hours to start catching; if nothing goes in within a few days, move it. With attractant inside, always keep it out of reach of children and the public.

In spring, if you trap foundresses, do it on their route, by the apiary or where there were nests, so it doesn't fill up with other species, and take it down when the first workers appear. In winter there is nothing to catch.

03 · BAIT AND UPKEEP

Strain it to empty, refill it without scrubbing

Véto-pharma's dose is 10 ml of its VespaCatch attractant, 50 g of sugar and 200 ml of water, mixed in the bowl; with another attractant, keep its own ratio and scale it to that volume. Renew it when the trap is full of hornets or after three weeks. To remove the catch, just strain the liquid; when you refill it, don't rinse the bowl and leave a dead hornet inside: the smell of earlier catches draws in the next ones. When assembling the tunnel, push its tabs firmly into the slots, as the part itself says: that is what stops the trap from falling.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Original or Select? Véto-pharma keeps both: the Original, which works by drowning and costs less, for apiaries under very heavy predation; the Select, with an entrance adjustable from 7 to 11 mm, no drowning and escape holes for small insects.

How many? With 2 hornets per hive hawking at the entrances, one trap for every two hives; with 3 to 5, one per hive; with more than 5, three for every two. That is Véto-pharma's guideline.

⚠ LEGAL NOTICE

It is a non-selective trap, and in many areas trapping is regulated: check the rules where you are before hanging it. Don't touch nests: report them to the local authorities.