Japanese Beetle Trap

Intro: Japanese Beetle Trap

How to make a reusable Japanese Beetle trap for $8 or so.

STEP 1: Materials and Tools

You will need to get
- A bucket 3 gallon is what I have at hand but 5 gallon would work fine.(Free if you know where to look)
- A wire coat hanger (free with your dry cleaning)
- A "transmission fluid" type funnel. $2.50 at auto parts store.
- A Japanese Beetle Lure replacement $4.75 at hard ware store. The puck style works as well as the mesh pouch type so get what ever you can.
Tools You will need
- A multi tool
- A 1.5" hole saw

STEP 2: Prepare the Funnel

Cut a few inches off the end of the funnel so the hole is at least 1" This will allow the beetles to slip down the funnel and into the bucket without clogging.
The one pictured has already been cut.

STEP 3: Adding the Wire Hanger

- Using the awl from your multi tool make a small hole about an inch below the hole cast in the funnel. -Cut a length of about 10" from the wire hanger.
- Bend it so it is secured to the funnel using the 2 holes.
-Bend a hook into the end for your lure.

STEP 4: Cut the Lid

-Using the 1.5" hole saw cut a hole in the lid.
you can use a smaller or larger hole saw if your funnel is a different size.
I off center the hole so I can place a brick on top of the trap when it gets windy.

STEP 5: Bait the Trap

-put the lid on the bucket
-put the funnel in the hole
-open the bait lure and hang on hook
-watch the swarm approach
Oh you will also need a shovel to dig a hole to bury your catch(ashes to ashes and what not). Make sure they are dead before they go in the ground. They are beetles and have no problem digging out. A solution of soapy water will drown them quickly.

Comments

[vinekpr]

Please don't bury them. I burn them in a burn barrel. The females can can have eggs that may be fertile and will hatch if buried.

[klarrimore]

Once I have trapped them in plain water, I am able to feed them to my chickens, they eat them like candy.

[jbsmasher]

I think I can improve on your trap to make it more effective! I will be building a trap similar to yours with one add on. I plan to seal the funnel to the buckets lid with some silicone. That way i can add some soapy water to the top of the lid to destroy the ones that can't seam to fly above the funnel to fall in.

[rosewood513]

shouldn't the lure be in the bucket? How do they get in if the lure is outside. Any trap I ever made asks for the lure to be inside so they go after it.
Thanks

[senorspacehead]

The lure needs to be above the trap so the scent can travel on the wind. They are very poor at landing and will crash into the lure and then fall into the trap.

[spylock]

I buy the ones in the store and give them out to my nighbors,they love me for it,but what Im really doing is keeping them away from my yard,as the traps attract the things,so I havnt had near as many as when I started handing out the traps.Im really a hell of a nice guy though,and theyll figure it out one of these summers.

[dieseldork]

I have a hand held dyson vac (battery powered) which has a long flat nozzle. Sucks them up by the dozen.. After the clear canister is full, I wrap it in a plastic bag and dump them in. Especially good for high difficult to reach leaves. No I don't work for Dyson. Work in Patents.

[spacehead]

Yes, that is a good idea. I did not trap last year because I did not want to deal with burying that many beetle bodies again. I have entertained the idea of setting the traps on other farms close by much like you giving out free traps to your neighbors...LOL

[aetherguy881]

So this works great without human intervention pushing them off the bait into the funnel? I know with the old out of fashion traps didn't allow landing, so they fell right into the bag.

[shahabg]

this is off the subject but has anyone used milky spore? if so how are the results. oh traps usually work if you put them in your neighbors yard.

[spacehead7]

I have heard of it and we may be giving it a try this year but am weary of it's effect on "good" larva and caterpillars we want here.

[Riggertrev]

Will you clarify, please: does the trap hang inside the funnel, or underneath it? Please could you add a picture of the assembled lure and funnel. Sounds good though, we have these beetles and it's time to get rid of them.

[spacehead7]

Just added a picture of the hanging lure/bait it should hang over the funnel. Knock em dead!

[artobot]

I thought Japanese Beetle Traps went out of fashion about 10 years ago? I'm sorry if I was miss informed, but didn't people stop using them because they actually brought more beetles into their yard rather then taking care of the population? Either way, nice tutorial and good luck against the insect hordes.

[backcountry]

My experience exactly. Those lures work really well and once you get a critical mass of beetles in the yard, they lure each other as well as being lured by the lure. And they wind up devouring everything in spite of the trap. The best/only way I've found to deal with them is hand picking, because I don't use pesticides or anything like that. Knock 'em into a cup of soapy water. I have to do it twice a day for about 3 weeks. I tried to get the kids to do it by offering them $10 per hundred (about a half hour's work), but they wouldn't have anything to do with it. Probably should have made it $20.

[spacehead7]

Oh, the swarm is way too real! Some people don't use them because they don't want them in their yard, but if you are an avid gardener and you don't do something about them, they will definitely be in your yard, anyway. We aren't the N.I.M.B.Y. type; the more we kill now, the less there will be in the future. Now, I've just got to get spacehead7 (yep, I married this guy) to work on a starling trap... :)

[Sandisk1duo]

Would this work with bees?

[spacehead7]

This trap will only work with Japanese Beetles. I think you mean yellow jackets and or wasps. There are very simple soda bottle traps you can make for them that work quite well. If you are having a problem with honey bees please contact a local bee keeper. Honey bees need all the help they can get.

[Redgerr]

lol i like the last picture--- SWARMMMM!!! i dont think that is real... right?

[canida]

Nice solution! I used to live in an area with tons of Japanese beetles. They're pretty awful.