Asian giant hornet trapping starts July 1; you are invited to participate

||| FROM CASSIE CICHORZ for STATE AGRICULTURE DEPT. |||

Citizen scientist trapping for Asian giant hornets is starting in just days, and we wanted to invite you to participate in trapping again this year!

Detailing instructions for 2021 trapping can be found on our website, but here are a few changes from last year that we’d like to highlight:

• • No sending in trap contents – Last year we requested that you strain, rinse, and either mail in or drop of all of your trap contents. You will not be doing that this year! Instead, you’ll only need to report if you catch an Asian giant hornet. (And we’ll even come and get it!)
  • Dark brown sugar bait option – In addition to the bait of rice cooking wine and orange juice, you have a new option of using dark brown sugar mixed with water. The brown sugar mixture has proven effective in the Eastern US for trapping the similar European hornet without catching honey bees.

• New bottle entrance – This year we suggest a star-shaped bottle opening to make it even more difficult for hornets to escape. However, if you still have bottles from last year, you can reuse them this year with the same openings! (Just be sure to wash them thoroughly, first.)
• Trapping through November – We are extending the trapping season through the end of November. Last year the hornets were still building nest into late October with hundreds of hornets yet to emerge, so trapping later into the fall should help catch any late emerging hornets.
• New trap mapping form – We have a new trap mapping form which will hopefully make it easier for you to log your trap locations. You will not be able to use your trap number from last year; everyone must get new trap numbers for their traps. Another improvement this year is that you will receive an auto generated email with your trap number!

Trapping starts July 1, so there is still time to get supplies and be ready to hang your trap!