How to Make a Wasp Trap

Fill container with vinegar, sugar and salt to trap wasps.Wasps have their place in the ecosystem. They’re particularly helpful in controlling pests that wreck crops. But when they happen to make their nest too close to home and pose a danger to people and household pets, they become pests themselves. Here’s one simple, inexpensive and environmentally-friendly way to discourage wasps from hanging around your neck of the woods.

Take a plastic bottle and cut the neck off. (The neck is the cone part of the bottle including the cap.)

Flip the neck upside-down, removing the cap first, and place the neck into the bottle.

Tape and/or staple the top together or drill a couple of holes and keep them together by two screws, which you can even use to hang it up. Keep in mind that you will need to take them apart often to switch out the bait and remove dead wasps.

Bait the trap. It should not reach the opening of the bottle––the wasps should have to completely enter the trap in order to access the bait. You can also do this before you attach the two pieces together. Some bait ideas include:

Meat – This is the best choice in the spring and late winter because wasps are making nests and laying eggs, so they’re searching for high protein food; you may even catch a queen this way, in which case the wasps will relocate their nest.

Dishwashing liquid and water
Mashed grapes
Sugar and lemon juice
Kokanee beer or coolers
Sugar and water
Sugar and vinegar
1 tsp liquid laundry soap, 1 tsp sugar (to attract them), and water – if they do get out, they will still die from the laundry soap
Soda (lemonade, etc.) that has lost its fizz. This way it can still be of use. Add a few drops of washing up liquid to help break the surface tension of the soda.

Tape some string to the bottle, (or make holes and put the string through) and hang it up in an area with many wasps.

Once the wasps go in they can’t figure out how to get out, so they get trapped.
Adding petroleum jelly or cooking oil along the steep edges of the trap can cause them to lose their footing and fall into the hole.

Empty the trap regularly. Be sure the wasps are dead before removing them. Not only do you want to prevent a defensive sting, but living wasps that escape may return with their friends. Pour hot, soapy water into the funnel (the upside-down neck of the bottle) to make sure, or put a plastic bag over the trap and put it in the freezer for a few days.Bury the dead wasps, or flush them down the toilet, as their bodies might release a chemical that alerts the rest of the colony to their fate.