Wasp Control for Kiwifruit Orchards
Kiwifruit is New Zealand's most pollination-dependent major crop. During the spring flowering window (September–November), orchards across the Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Northland bring in large numbers of managed honey bee hives — often around eight hives per hectare — to ensure fruit set.
That same flowering and fruiting environment is highly attractive to German and common wasps, which compete with bees, raid hives, and later in the season feed on damaged fruit and sting workers among the vines.
The wasp problem
Why wasps are a problem for kiwifruit orchards
Kiwifruit orchards run intense pollination programmes, and any pressure on those hives directly threatens your yield. Wasps are a documented pest of kiwifruit orchards: they prey on bees, disrupt pollination activity, and in late summer feed on split or damaged fruit on the vine.
Kiwifruit is grown on pergola structures that put workers up among the vines at harvest — exactly where wasps also forage. Stings during the busy harvest period cause downtime and serious safety risk.
- Prey on pollinating bees during flowering
- Disrupt the critical pollination window
- Feed on split or damaged fruit late season
- Sting workers during vine harvest
The solution
How GotchaPest helps kiwifruit growers
GotchaPest bee-safe wasp traps let you suppress wasp numbers around kiwifruit orchards without putting your pollination hives at risk. Place traps around orchard perimeters, near hive sites, and along shelter belts in the lead-up to and during flowering.
The reusable, chemical-free design means no spray drift over vines or hives, and traps can be serviced and re-deployed across multiple seasons — a low-cost, low-input layer in your orchard’s pest management.
Reusable, Bee-Safe Wasp Trap
Fast, safe, and seriously effective — NZ-made wasp trap that protects pollinators.
Why growers choose GotchaPest
Built for NZ orchards
Bee-safe by design
Protects the hives your kiwifruit relies on.
Reusable season after season
One trap, many seasons — low cost per hectare.
No spray drift
Chemical-free — safe over vines and hives.
Safer harvest
Fewer wasps among the vines means fewer stings.
Protecting orchard workers
Kiwifruit harvest puts workers up on the pergola among the vines, right in the wasps’ foraging zone. Traps deployed along block edges and near bins in the weeks before harvest pull wasps away from the picking crew, reducing sting incidents and downtime during your busiest period.
Protecting the bees that pollinate your crop
With roughly eight hives per hectare at flowering, kiwifruit has the highest pollination reliance of any major NZ crop. GotchaPest wasp traps are tested bee-safe, so you can hold wasp pressure down through the pollination window without putting a single hive at risk.
Questions, answered
Practical guidance for kiwifruit growers.
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Wasp control for other NZ crops
Protect your kiwifruit crop this season
Reusable, bee-safe, NZ-made wasp traps that protect pollination, reduce fruit damage and keep your workers safe.