How to deal with Wasps on grapes

How to save grapes from OS and bees?

Long forgotten are the times when the cultivation of grapes was considered the privilege of the inhabitants of the southern regions exclusively. Thanks to the work of breeders, these sweet berries can be grown on dacha plots in the middle belt. But, unfortunately, the vineyard is often attacked by wasps and bees.

If you do not cope with these insects, you can destroy most of the harvest, and all the work will go to waste.

This article describes four effective ways to save grapes from OS and bees without using toxins and harmful chemical solutions.

What can you treat with?

During grape ripening, the wasp flies to the sweetness and eats the berries, starting with the overripe fruit. You can save grapes before the OS by spraying the vines with a bitter infusion of wormwood. To do this, wormwood is collected during flowering. The herb should be crushed, filled with water at the rate of a bucket of wormwood for half a bucket and insisted for 24 hours. Then the infusion is boiled for about 40 minutes, strain through gauze and add the same amount of water. The decoction is sprayed on grapes twice a week.

In addition to wormwood, the sweetness of the fruit can be masked with a saline solution or vinegar solution. Proportions: 3-4 tablespoons of salt/vinegar per liter of water. Spray once a week and after each rain.

The method of spraying grapes with an infusion of onion and garlic is common among referents. However, this is not recommended because it changes the taste of the berries.

It is possible to treat grapes with the preparation “June”. It is not a poison, it is easily attacked by pests. It is a completely safe product that is made on the basis of a natural smoke flavor.

The biological product of Actophytes is well established among insecticides. You can both treat vines with it and use traps as bait.

If you follow the instructions, the drug is absolutely safe for plants and human health.

In addition, experienced grape growers practice that increase the places where OS and bees congregate with smoke – these insects cannot tolerate the smell of burning. It is unlikely that this method can be called a hundred percent, but in combination with other means it is very effective.

How to protect the bait?

There are special Capture traps for sale, but you can also do it yourself. The most common option is a reusable trap made from a large plastic bottle.

To make a trap, unscrew the cork, cut off the neck on the bottle, turn it over and put it back up, exposing the funnel. Various baits consisting of water and sugar syrup, sweet jam or honey are placed in the bottles. Wasps are influenced by the tasty aroma to enter the bottles through the narrow neck and dip into the sticky composition. Once filled, the bottles can be cleaned and used again.

In addition, beer, kvass and transferable berry and fruit compotes are used as OS bait. To enhance the smell, it is recommended to smear the outside of the trap with the bait as well.

To be more effective, oil the walls of the trap and give a solution of boric acid or a weak-smelling insecticide such as B. Get or Delta Zone in addition to the bait.

Sticky traps are used. An adhesive layer is applied to a poet’s leaf of cardboard or linoleum, and a sweet bait of pieces of suppressive fruit – melon, watermelon, apricot, banana, or others – is placed in the middle. The wasps fly up to the treat and stick.

In addition to sweets, wasps are attracted to meat. It is better if it is slightly spoiled. Selling or sausage products, fish, and liver are also drowned. Such bait also attracts hornets, another dangerous “guests” for grapes.

But bees, which cause much less damage, do not interest them.

It is worth noting here that bees cannot bite the skin off grapes and only eat berries that have already been damaged by birds or Wasps. Given the tremendous benefits that bees bring to the garden, it would be wiser not to destroy these insects unnecessarily.

There are also traps with ultraviolet lights. The insect flies into the light, touches the rust, and is killed by an electric shock when discharged. No additional lures are required for these devices. The disadvantage of such traps is their rather high cost. Decent alternatives are simple mechanical traps that run on solar collectors, combined with baiting.

Using Tuning Systems

Some plants have an aroma that repels OS and Horney. These include peppermint, basil, thyme, geranium, lemongrass (also known as Qtronella), wormwood and melissa. It is recommended that these plants be planted in close proximity to vineyards or moisten them with cotton stores and eliminate OS at the location of the batteries.

They usually form nests in the attic, in pipe holes, in crevices between house soils and under roof scales.

Among the plants that reject OS is such an exotic flower, such as common charmala, which grows in the steppe regions of Asia and Eastern Europe. Dry grass grapes are set on fire, which indicates a place of accumulation of insects. The smoke is completely harmless to humans, but wasps are killed by it. Burning wooden trees also confuses the OS with the release of strong smelling substances.

It should be noted that by itself, this method is effective only in conjunction with other pest control methods.

Save the grapes with the help of bags

It is possible to protect grapes with the help of special net bags. This is the most effective and most humane method, which does not lead to the death of insects.

The invasion of pests, which usually feed on the pulp of grapes, begins in August, as soon as the first varieties ripen. At this time, you need to carefully hide each bunch in a bag made of fine netting. This can be gauze, mosquito netting, old nylon tights or tulle in front of unwanted curtains. Such pouches can also be bought at the store. They consist of a non-rubbable synthetic material in a variety of color variations. It is better to choose neutral gray and brown colors – they are the least attractive to insects.

Each bag should be put on the bunch so that there is enough space between the grapes and the cloth for free air circulation. This process is rather long and time-consuming, but what can you do – the result justifies the effort. Keep an eye out for grape leaves that may rot in the coconut.

In addition to individual pockets, you can use a large protective net that protects the bunches not only from bees and OS, but also from the berries. It should be defined on both sides at the top of the netting around the perimeter of the vineyard, so that the net hangs freely to the ground.

How to effectively control wasps in the vineyard and save the harvest

During grape ripening, wasps and hornets cause considerable damage and become a serious problem for gardeners and viticulturists. There are various effective ways to combat vineyard wasps – both mechanical and chemical. Timely application of these measures helps to get rid of the invasion of wasps and preserve a rich harvest of delicious and sweet berries.

Mechanical methods of control

There are many ways to combat OS by experienced gardeners in the vineyard. The simplest, most accessible and effective ones are taken for consideration. With your help, you can prevent a large-scale invasion of OSes.

First of all, it is necessary to get rid of the wasp’s nest, otherwise you will not be able to get rid of the insects completely. Carefully check the location – the most common nests are under roof slopes, in the attic, in the interior of pipes or grills, as well as in the ground.

Earth OS nests can be filled with boiling water, kerosene or other flammable substance. If the nest is found under a roof or in an attic, it is more convenient to drown it in a bucket of water. You should use thick gloves, closed clothing, and protective headgear to protect yourself.

After destroying a wasp nest, the place where it was found should be treated with an insecticide preparation, cracks under the roof and other openings, preferably filled with assembly foam.

Falling OS.

Praps for OS on the vineyard is a simple and effective way to get rid of insects.

This construction can be easily made with your own hands from an ordinary plastic bottle:

• Cut off the neck of the plastic bottle;
• Turn it over and use it with the narrowed part as an irrigation box.
• Attach the trap with duct tape;
• Pour bait into the trap – it can be beer, sweet lemonade, diluted honey or jam, sugar syrup;
• Distribute such waterfalls throughout the vineyard.

Up to 50-100 insects a day can be caught with this simple design. Such a trap will not completely exterminate the operating system on the site, but it will greatly reduce its numbers.

Netting from the operating system

An OS net helps protect ripening bunches of berries from insect attack.

These are simple and affordable products with a number of advantages:

• Do not absorb moisture waste and do not spoil the taste of berries.
• Provides reliable protection and blocks OSAM access to berry clusters;
• Berry bunches are protected not only from insects, but also from birds.
• Prevent access to oxygen, prevent berry rot;
• Protect grapes from negative weather conditions;
• Suitable for several uses.

Grape bags for grapes can be bought in gardening stores or made yourself. You can use fine mesh association, gauze, nylon tights. To repair the net on the bunches, it is most convenient to use clothespins or elastic tape.

Such a pocket is placed in each pile – you must be careful to make sure that there are no open areas. Only material with a mesh diameter of less than 1 mm provides reliable protection.

The use of synthetic bags is one of the most popular options that wasps combat in the vineyard when cultivating particularly valuable varieties. However, this method is only suitable for small vineyards, since in large plantations it is physically impossible to put a net on each bunch.

Hörner’s feeding house

The principle of operation of a wasp feeder is different from traps because they not only “dainty” the insects with insecticide bait, but also fly back to the nest. A plastic container or a packet of cake is used to make the feeder.

Board options:

• 500 ml of beer and 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar;
• 60-70 ml of apple or wine vinegar, 500 ml of water and 3-4 tablespoons of granulated sugar;
• 30-50 ml of sweet white wine;
• Cut all the sweet fruit into pieces;
• raw meat.

An insecticidal preparation that has no pronounced odor and is safe for human health is added to the selected bait. The waxwings taste the poisoned treat and bring it to the nest, resulting in the rapid death of the entire colony.

OS replacement.

One way to protect grapes from OS is to repel it. For this purpose, herbs and various products with a pronounced odor that the insects cannot tolerate are used.

OS repellency options:

1. The easiest and most effective way is to smoke-free the vineyard. To do this, you can use liquid smoke for fumigating produce. Because of its intense odor, it provides longer-lasting protection for the vineyard.
2. Spraying plain warm water from a sprayer helps get rid of OS for a while, as the insects cannot move around with wet wings.
3. Alcohol will quickly repel OS in front of grape bushes. Mix 2 liters of water with 2 tablespoons of ammonia and treat the vine plants.
4. Vinegar – Use 1 spoonful of vinegar per 200 ml of water to make a working solution. This solution should not be sprayed on bushes, but pour into small plates and spread around the vineyard area.
5. You can use baking soda to repel OS. Dissolve 3 tablespoons of baking soda in 5 liters of water. You can add a spoonful of grated linen to increase effectiveness. Spray the vine bushes with this solution before or after sunset.

Plants with a pronounced odor, which are planted next to grape bushes, also help to prevent the appearance of OS on the vineyard. These include geranium, melissa, peppermint, basil, and wormwood. They contain rich essential oils, the aroma of which repels insects.

How to fight wasps in the vineyard with the help of chemicals

Chemical means are considered the fastest and most effective in causing a lot of damage to vine bushes wasps. Gardeners recommend using such insecticides only in the most severe cases, because despite their modern and improved composition, they contain toxic substances that can penetrate the berries.

Effective insecticide preparations for wasp control:

• Lambda-zone;
• Delta-Zone;
• Getter;
• Troapshil;
• Alaptar.

When choosing an insecticide, you must take into account that wasps are very sensitive to strong odors. Therefore, preparations with pronounced scents will only scare the insects and will not destroy them. It is best to choose chemical preparations that are odorless.

The solution to be used should be made just before application according to the manufacturer’s information. Vineyard insecticide treatments should not be done more than once a month, but be aware that chemicals can be toxic not only to wasps but also to bees.

Wasps in the vineyard can be a serious problem for growers and can significantly damage crops. Available and effective mechanical and folk methods are used to control the insects – special traps, feeders, nets or repellent. In the case of extensive colonies of wasps, insecticides are used, which are harmless and harmful to humans.