Abstract: Seasonal abundance and the efficiency of liquid culture of yeast (Candida tropicalis) as bait to capture the oriental wasps (Vespa orientalis L.), were studied at Dirut location, Assiut governorate during 2003 seasons. The oriental wasps started to appear in the first week of April and gradually decreased to the minimum levels during June (late spring) and July (earlier summer). Then, the activity of wasps increased gradually from the second week of August to the fourth week of September. Total numbers of wasps reached the highest values in October followed by September and November and then the number of oriental wasps decreased until disappeared at the fourth week of December. The modified traps recommended by Ministry of Agriculture were baited with 100% of 1.26×10 5 freshly prepared yeast liquid culture (Candida tropicalis) captured the highest mean numbers of oriental wasps after 24 hr. and 7 days during the active period of wasps (September, October and November). Using liquid yeast culture at 25% concentration recorded the lowest mean numbers of wasps captured in the traps

A M Gomaa

T E Abd El-Wahab

CiteSeerX

Journal of Applied Sciennces Research, 2(11): 1042-1046, 2006
© 2006, INSInet Publication
Corresponding Author: A.M. Gomaa, Agricultural Microbiology, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt.
1042
Seasonal Abundance and the Efficiency of Yeast Liquid Culture (Candida tropicalis) as Bait
for Capturing the Oriental Wasps (Vespa orientalis L.) Under Egyptian Environment
1A.M. Gomaa and 2T.E. Abd El-Wahab
1Agricultural Microbiology Department, 
2Department of Pests and Plant Protection,
National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt.
Abstract: Seasonal abundance and the efficiency of liquid culture of yeast (Candida tropicalis) as bait to
capture the oriental  wasps  (Vespa  orientalis L.), were studied at Dirut location, Assiut governorate during
2003 seasons. The oriental wasps started to appear in the first week of April and gradually decreased to the
minimum levels during June (late spring) and July (earlier summer). Then, the activity of wasps increased
gradually from the second week of August to the fourth week of September. Total numbers of wasps reached
the highest values in October followed by September and November and then the number of oriental wasps
decreased until disappeared at the fourth week of December. The modified traps recommended by Ministry of
Agriculture were baited with 100% of 1.26×105 freshly prepared yeast liquid culture (Candida tropicalis)
captured the highest mean numbers of oriental wasps after 24 hr. and 7 days during the active period of wasps
(September, October and November). Using liquid yeast culture at 25% concentration recorded the lowest mean
numbers of wasps captured in the traps.
Key words: Oriental wasps, seasonal variations, capturing, bait, yeast liquid culture. 
INTRODUCTION
The oriental wasp, Vespa orientalis L. is considered
one of the most important insect pests affecting honey bee
industry in Egypt. Furthermore, it attacks many fruit trees,
especially grapes and dates[6] (Ibrahim and Mazeed,
1967). The wasps attack foraging workers and guard bees
at hive entrances and resulted weakening strong colonies
and minimizing their productivity[8,12]. In some
circumstances, the wasps enter the hive and carry off both
larvae and pupae. The wasps bite and discard the head and
the abdomen of the adult bee and flies back to their nest
with the thorax to feed the wasp larvae[10]. The population
activity of the wasps varied greatly according to the
prevailing weather factors. In Egypt many authors[11,6,14,7]
mentioned that the activity of oriental wasps is very low
in winter, spring and early summer and gradually increase
to reach the peak of abundance in the autumn particularly
during October. The number of wasps starts to fall off
gradually during the second half of November and
disappeared in the middle of December. Different types of
traps either baited or not baited for capturing oriental
wasps were used by Ibrahim and Mazeed[6] they tested
seven types of traps that currently used in Egypt. They
found that the wooden trap recommended by Ministry of
Agriculture in Egypt with honey baits was the most
efficient one followed by the ordinary tin-can trap.
Ahmed[2] recorded that using Ministry of Agriculture trap
exhibited a highest fitness for the high season of hornet
population than the hanged trap (Abou- Elezz trap). Also,
he found that the poison bait having 10 gm Lannate 90%
mixed with 1Kg honey gave speed action on capture the
wasps. Irrespective of the high nutrient contents of yeast
cultures (Candida tropicalis) of protein, amino acids and
vitamins, they emerges special odor during their growth
especially in liquid culture that attracts honey bee workers
to feed on it[1]. 
This work aims to study the seasonal fluctuations in
numbers and activity of the wasps in Dirut, Assiut
governorate. Also, the efficiency of various
concentrations of liquid culture of yeast (0,25,50 and
100%) as an attractive agent and bait to the oriental wasps
were taken into consideration.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present investigation was carried out in a private
apiary yard located at Dirut, Assiut governorate, Egypt
during 2003. For preparing the traps, the big wooden trap
recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture[6] was
modified as follows: 
This trap is constructed of two wooden boxes of
honey bee hive, one is empty honey chamber placed a top
of the empty brood chamber. One circular opening is
about 20 cm in diameter was cut in bottom board of the
empty brood chamber with the exception one wire of
gauze cone about 25 cm long was fitted into the opening
and  was  directed  inwards  (Fig.1A&B).  The  top  of the
J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(11): 1042-1046, 2006
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Fig. 1: The construction of trap.
B.D.: Bottom board, H.S.: Hive stand, Q.E.: Queen excluder, C.W.: Captured wasps,
W.G: Wirw gauze cone, H.Ch.: Honeychamber, Cont.: Container of plastic, B.ch.: Brood chamber
wire cone has a small inner hole about 2.5 cm in diameter
that allows for the entrance of the wasps but prevents their
escape. The top cover of the upper box (empty honey
chamber) was made of queen excluder to allow for the
light, which attracts the wasps upwards. The two boxes
were placed on a hive stand about 40 cm high and the bait
put in container of plastic 35 cm high placed under the
bottom board (Fig.1C).
1-Seasonal abundance of the oriental wasps (Vespa
orientalis L.): This experiment was conducted from
March to December, 2003 and five traps baited with sugar
solution (1:1) were used for this study. The traps
distributed randomly in the experimental apiary and the
total number of captured wasps were counted every week.
Weekly mean temperatures and relative humidity (R.H) at
Dirut region were obtained from the general authority for
meteorology, Cairo, Egypt.
2-The  effect  of yeast liquid culture (Candida
tropicalis) as bait on the captured oriental wasps
(Vespa orientalis L.): This experiment was conducted
from August to October 2003. A soil yeast culture
(Candida tropicalis) was isolated and grown to the late
exponential phase (1.2 x 105 CFU/ml) on a sterilized
medium containing in tap water: 10% molasses, 0.3%
(w/v) urea and 0.1% lactic acid[5]. Three concentrations of
the tested liquid yeast culture were used as follows:
- 500 g sugar + 500 ml water (control).
- 500 g sugar + 125 ml yeast culture + 375 ml water (25%).
- 500 g sugar + 250 ml yeast culture + 250 ml water (50%).
- 500 g sugar + 500 ml yeast culture + 500 ml water (100%).
Twelve traps were used in this study, where three
traps were used as replicates for each concentration of
liquid yeast culture and the other three baited with sugar
solution (1:1) as a control.
Analysis  of  variance  (ANOVA)  was  carried out
for  the  obtained  data  according  to  the method of
Waller  and  Duncan[13].  The  correlation  coefficient
values  between  the  number  of  captured  wasps and
both  temperature  and  relative  humidity  were
calculated. 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
1- Seasonal abundance of the oriental wasps (Vespa
orientalis L.): Regarding to the seasonal abundance of the
oriental wasps (Vespa orientalis L.) the data presented in
Table (1) and Fig. (2 C) indicated that the wasps started
to appear at Dirut location during the first week of April
but in scarce number (13 wasps/ trap) then increased
gradually to the third week of May (40 wasps/ trap).
Thereafter, the weekly numbers of captured wasps in the
traps decreased to low value during June (late spring) and
J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(11): 1042-1046, 2006
1044
Fig. 2: The effect of temperature and relative humidity on the weekly mean number of oriental wasps.
Table 1: Seasonal abundance of wasps Vespa orientalis L. at Dirut Assiut governorate during the period from April to December, 2003. 
Mean No. of wasps in the trap
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spring Summer Autumn
---------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------
Time April May June July August September October November December
First week 13 70 6 2 21 390 1870 1301 32
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second week 17 135 7 2 51 640 3201 640 12
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Third week 31 40 4 3 170 1651 4550 470 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fourth week 65 22 4 9 350 3301 1611 42 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 126 267 21 16 592 5982 11232 2453 49
July (earlier summer). In summer season, marked
increases in the wasps from the second week of August
(51  wasps/  trap)  to  the  fourth week of September
(3301 wasps/trap) were recorded. Weekly mean numbers
of oriental wasps reached to the highest value during the
autumn season particularly in the third week of October
(4550  wasps/  trap) and the first week of November
(1301 wasps/ trap). Total number of the wasps reached
the highest value in October (11232 wasps / trap)
followed by September (5982 wasps/ trap) and November
(2453 wasps/ trap) respectively. A sharp decline took
place during the second week of December and the wasps
disappeared at the fourth week of December. 
The obtained results clearly indicate that the Vespa
orientalis L. started to appear in Dirut, Assiut governorate
in April then decreased gradually to recorded the
minimum levels during June and July. In early summer
the wasps increased gradually to record their highest
numbers in the late summer and early autumn. During the
seasonal activity of wasps, the highest numbers were
recorded in October, September and November
respectively.  Also  the  oriental  wasps  at   Dirut   region
J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(11): 1042-1046, 2006
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Table 2: Correlation coefficient between the mean numbers of wasps
and the mean temperature and relative humidity (R.H.%)
during the different seasons of 2003. 
Correlation coefficient (r value)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Season Temperature °C Relative humidity %
Spring 0.06 - 0.67 *
Summer - 0.79 * 0.077
Autumn + 0.872 * - 0.74 *
*: Significant correlation at 0.05 probability.
Table 3: The efficiency of different concentrations of yeast liquid
culture (Candida tropicalis) on the captured oriental wasps by
the trap during the period from September to November 2003.
Mean No. of wasps in the trap
-------------------------------------------------------------------
September October November
Concentrations ----------------- ------------------- --------------------
of Liquid yeast 24 h. 7 days 24 h. 7 days 24 h. 7 days
25% 10 a 474 a 19 a 1082 a 39 a 246 a
50% 17 b 929 a 33 a 1928 a 60 a 351 a
100% 36 c 3056 c 64 b 4948 b 113 b 805 b
Control 6 a 237 a 14 a 803 a 21 a 180 a
L.S.D. 5.45 2018.56 22.83 2616.51 48.25 339.20
A,b,c for the comparison between the different concentrations of liquid
yeast and control.
completely disappeared in the fourth week of December.
The obtained results seem to confirm the findings of
Mellor,[9], Sharkawi[11] and Ibrahim and Mazeed[6] at Giza,
Egypt where they stated that the population density of the
oriental wasp Vespa orientalis L. was very low during
spring and early summer then gradually increased to reach
the peak of abundance in September, October and early
November. In Upper Egypt Ahmed[2] recorded that the
population density of the oriental wasp in three sites Abu-
Tisht, Quena and Isna started in spring from March and
reach the highest numbers in September and October. In
other studies on the population density of wasps at
Zagazig and El-Mullak districts in Egypt, Khater et al.[7]
found that Vespa orientalis L. started to appear at both
Zagazig and El-Mullak districts during March but in
scarce numbers. Gradual increases occurred during the
June and recorded the highest numbers during the first
period of September then decreased gradually to
completely disappear at the end of December.
Correlation coefficient in Table (2) reveals that there
is a positive significant correlation between the weekly
numbers of oriental wasps captured in the traps and mean
daily temperature during spring and autumn, while a
negative significant correlation was recorded in summer
season. Furthermore, a negative significant correlation
were detected between weekly numbers of wasps and
relative humidity (R.H.%) in spring and autumn, while
this correlation was slightly positive in summer season.
These results were shown in Fig. (2 A) where in spring
season mean number of wasps increased with the highest
temperature. After that the wasps decreased in early
summer (June and July) and returned to increase
gradually in late summer (September) with the decrease
of temperature. The number of wasps reached to the
highest number in October with the decrease of
temperature, but in November the number decreased
slightly until disappeared in the fourth week of December.
The effect of relative humidity (R.H.%) on the activity of
wasps was shown in Fig. (2 B). It was observed that in
spring season relative humidity was low and the wasps
increased gradually until the earlier of summer. In autumn
season the relative humidity reached its highest value in
November and December with reduction of the wasps to
the minimum numbers. Khater et al.[7] found a positive
significant correlation between the monthly oriental wasps
caught and the mean of daily temperature. Also he stated
a slight negative correlation between the mean numbers of
wasps and RH % was detected. Also, Ibrahim and
Mazeed[6] observed that the degree of temperature affects
the activities of the oriental wasps where warm nights
lead to the mortality of all the trapped wasps. In contrast,
warm nights lead to great activities of the wasps during
the following day as indicated by the large numbers
caught in the traps.
2-The effect of liquid yeast culture (Candida tropicalis)
as bait  on the captured oriental wasps (Vespa
orientalis L.): The efficiency of liquid yeast culture
(Candida tropicalis) as bait on the captured oriental
wasps, data presented in Table (3) show that traps baited
with 100% of Liquid yeast culture captured the highest
numbers of Vespa orientalis after 24 hr. and 7 days of
baiting the traps during September, October and
November (36& 3056 wasps/ trap), (64& 4948 wasps/
trap) and (113& 805 wasps/ trap) respectively.
Application of 25% of liquid yeast culture recorded the
lowest mean numbers of captured wasps in the traps.
Statically analysis of the numbers of captured wasps
indicated that there are significant differences between the
traps baited with 100% of liquid yeast culture and the
other concentrations i.e., 25% and 50% of liquid yeast
culture and control traps. Ibrahim and Mazeed[6] and
Ahmed[2] recorded that using trap of Ministry of
Agriculture baited with honey exhibited a highest fitness
for the high season of oriental wasps population than the
hanged trap (Abou- Elezz trap). In the present study, uses
the liquid yeast culture for capturing the wasps in the
traps could be ascribed to the odor that attracts the wasps
to the traps in addition to its high nutritional value where
it contains vitamins, amino acids and hormones[4,3]. Abd
El-Wahab and Gomaa (2005) detected that feeding honey
bee colonies with liquid yeast culture induced a high level
of honey bee biological activities.
It could be concluded that the beekeepers at Dirut
location, Assiut governorate should be more careful
during the peak of oriental wasps abundance which
occurred from August till November. They should take all
necessary procedures such as using the baited traps to
J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(11): 1042-1046, 2006
1046
capture and prevent those large numbers of wasps from
invading their apiaries. Application of liquid yeast culture
(Candida tropicalis) as bait is efficient procedure to
capture the oriental wasps by the recommended traps.
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Seasonal Abundance and the Efficiency of Yeast Liquid Culture (Candida tropicalis) as Bait for Capturing the Oriental Wasps (Vespa orientalis L.) Under Egyptian Environment

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Seasonal Abundance and the Efficiency of Yeast Liquid Culture (Candida tropicalis) as Bait for Capturing the Oriental Wasps (Vespa orientalis L.) Under Egyptian Environment

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