Hornet Muzzle Trap for Hives

Last crawled date: 1 year, 8 months ago

Here is a muzzle trap inspired by Fernando's design.
"Beak Trap" renamed to muzzle trap. It is optimized for Dadant hives with Nicot floors. It is adaptable to any hive size & floor.
Its role is a muzzle: it allows the bees to continue their activity without being paralyzed by the proximity of the hornets.
Only the too adventurous hornets are trapped. The hunting hornets in front of the hives are far enough away for hive activity to continue.

Ideal material: alveolar plastic thickness ~ 2mm (from supermarket advertising panels)
Flexible plastic mesh 5x5mm: cut-out size 430 x 220 mm
Diameter of the holes: Passage Bees + Hornets: Ø8 to 9 mm Passage Bees only: Ø5 to 6 mm

Print the 3 patterns in PDF on A4 paper, cut out the solid lines and fold the dotted lines.
Cut out the flexible plastic mesh and sew it with fishing line.
Assemble with Staples (galvanized to limit rust) and/or hot glue.

The principle: the vast majority of bees takes off almost horizontally.
The hornet takes off almost vertically and is trapped.
It is necessary to install the trap without the bottles for 3 to 4 flying days so that the bees get used to passing through the right place.
The cones should preferably be made of plastic mesh to prevent the hornets from coming out.
The bottles can be replaced by plastic mesh cylinders, which facilitates the escape of trapped bees and improves aesthetics.