Pest Control
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Wasp traps are a popular summer fix, and used in the right place they can take the edge off the wasps around a garden. They are not a way to get rid of a nest. Here is what they can and cannot do, and how to use one without making things worse.
How wasp traps work
A wasp trap is a container with a sweet or meaty bait inside and an entrance that is easy to get into and hard to get out of. Wasps follow the smell in, cannot find the way out, and drown in the liquid or die in the trap.
- Shop-bought traps are usually plastic, with a funnel entrance and a reservoir for liquid bait. Some come with their own attractant.
- Homemade traps use a plastic bottle. Cut the top third off, turn it upside down and push it into the bottom half to make a funnel, then add a little sweet bait and water.
- Electric fly killers use ultraviolet light and are designed mainly for flies. They are not a reliable way to catch wasps.
What traps cannot do
A busy nest in late summer can hold several thousand wasps and keeps raising more. A trap catches some of the workers out foraging, and the colony replaces them. It does nothing to the queen or the nest itself, so it will not stop wasps coming and going from your loft, wall or shed.
Traps also work by drawing wasps in. Put one next to a patio table and you bring more wasps to the place you were trying to protect. Sweet baits can also catch other insects, so check traps regularly.
Using a trap sensibly
- Placement. Hang or stand traps several metres away from seating, doors, play areas and paths, ideally between those areas and where the wasps are coming from, such as bins, fruit trees or a hedge.
- Bait. Sweet baits such as fruit juice, jam in water or a sugary drink work well through summer. Later in the season, when wasps are hungry for sugar, sweet baits are at their most effective. Some people use a little meat or fish earlier in the year, when workers are hunting protein for the larvae.
- Maintenance. Empty the trap and replace the bait regularly so it stays attractive and does not start to smell. Wear gloves, and check that anything inside is dead before you empty it.
- Commercial traps. Follow the manufacturer's instructions.
- Never put a trap at a nest entrance. Disturbing the area around a nest is how people get stung.
Reducing wasps without a trap
Often the simplest way to cut down the wasps around a garden is to remove what is attracting them:
- keep bins closed, away from the house, and clean
- pick up windfall fruit
- cover food and drinks outdoors, and clear up straight after eating
- fit fly screens to windows and doors you keep open in warm weather
When the problem is a nest
If you see wasps all day, every day, in the same part of the garden, or a steady line of them flying in and out of one spot, there is a nest. A trap will not solve that. Our guide to the signs of a wasp nest explains how to find it safely. Do not block the entrance or try to treat it yourself.
When to call us
Call us if you have found a nest near the house, if traps are filling up quickly, or if wasps are getting indoors. We find the nest and treat it at the source, which is what stops the wasps. Our wasp nest treatment page explains how we work.