Wasp Control Kits

Each kit is built for DIY wasp control outdoors and typically pairs wasp traps with a non-toxic lure or attractant. Check the individual kit page for exactly what is included.

These kits focus on non-toxic lure-based trapping, which suits family outdoor spaces when used as directed. Hang or place traps out of reach, and site them away from where people sit rather than beside the table.

A formulated wasp lure is more selective than sugary bait, but no trap is entirely specific, and sweet baits late in the season do draw bees and hoverflies. Use the lure supplied rather than sugar water, and site traps away from flowering plants. It is worth confirming what you are dealing with as well - wasps are bright yellow and black, smooth and narrow-waisted, while honey bees are smaller, hairier and browner and bumblebees are large and furry. Neither should be killed, and a beekeeper will usually collect a honey bee swarm free of charge.

Reusable traps can be emptied and refilled as needed. Disposable bag traps typically last several weeks to a month before they need replacing. The lure is usually the limiting factor rather than the trap itself - once it stops smelling, it stops drawing wasps in.

At the edge of the area you want to protect, not in the middle of it - a trap draws wasps towards it, so one on the patio table brings wasps to the table. Site them 3-5 metres away, upwind of seating where you can, and near bins, fruit trees or the flight line you have noticed wasps using.

No. Traps reduce the wasps flying around a specific area; they do not affect the nest, which produces far more workers than a trap will ever catch. If you have found the nest and want to treat it, that needs a wasp nest powder instead. Read our guide to getting rid of wasps yourself before deciding which you need.

Two different pictures. If the trap is empty and untouched, the lure is the likely issue - dried out, diluted by rain, or the trap is sitting in shade while wasps work elsewhere. Refresh the lure and move the trap to a sunnier spot on the route you have watched wasps taking. If the trap is catching but numbers around you have not dropped, there is a nest nearby and trapping alone will not keep up with it.

Early season, from spring, catches queens and emerging workers before a colony builds up, which does more than trapping in August. Wasps become most noticeable around people from July to September, when the colony peaks and workers switch to seeking sugar - by then you are managing numbers rather than preventing them.