Effectiveness of Some Local Baits for the Managment of Hornets in Apiaries of Kathmandu Valley

An investigation of the effectiveness of some local baits for the management of hornets in apiaries of Kathmandu valley was carried out at Bhatkyapati-12 (Apiary A) and Tyangla-3 (Apiary B), Kirtipur Municipality under apiary conditions. Hornets were observed as most serious natural enemies of both house and field honeybees. Among four species of hornets viz: Vespa velutina Smith, Vespa tropica L., Vespa mandarina Smith, Vespa basalis Smith, V. velutina and V. mandarina were found to be the most abundant and serious enemies of honeybees in apiary conditions. A series of experiments were carried out to find out the efficacy of different baits for the management of hornets. Among them, the baits of rotten fish and pear attracted the highest number of hornets followed by rotten chicken bait. At apiary \u27A\u27 the highest numbers of hornets attracted were 8.600 and 8.667 per five minutes during September at rotten fish and pear baits respectively. Similarly, at apiary \u27B\u27 the highest number of hornets attracted by rotten fish and pear were 8.533 in September and 6.952 in August respectively. On the other hand, the experiment on efficacy of these baits to trap foraging honeybees showed that rotten fish and pear attracted the lowest number of honeybees as compared to the rest of the baits. The maximum number of honeybees trapped on rotten fish and pear baits were 0.500 in August and 0.700 in July respectively at apiary \u27A\u27 and 0.867 and 1.13 on rotten fish and pear baits respectively during September at apiary \u27B\u27. It can be concluded that rotten fish and pear baits are the best attractants for the management of predatory hornets in apiary conditions