Building a Bait-Station

(still in progress)

Bait-Station

When building a Bait-Station, creativity has (almost) no limits. Anyone who enjoys tinkering can design their own setup – as long as the final result works reliably. Only the Python code running on the Raspberry Pi, especially the part responsible for uploading events, should not be modified, as this could affect the functionality of the website for all users.

To make getting started easier, I would like to present my bait station here as a reference design.

Picture must be updated!!!

It consists of:

  • A beverage crate (slightly elevated for increased stability)
  • A wooden board, spray-painted green
    (color tone: RAL 6018, used as a green-screen background and weather protection)
  • Three metal angle brackets used as spacers
  • A white lampshade (rain protection and light diffusion)
  • A 3D-printed lid
  • A compass for alignment to true north
  • A small plastic lid containing the bait liquid

Material costs: approx. €20

The following hardware components are used:

  • Raspberry Pi 5 (4 GB RAM, 8 GB MicroSD card)
  • Pi Camera Module 3
  • USB-C power supply
  • Custom-designed 3D-printed case with ventilation holes

Material costs: approx. €120

The camera should be positioned as centrally as possible above the bait liquid to achieve good 360° coverage. The more precisely this is done, the better the resulting measurements will be.
Finally, the entire housing is aligned to true north using a compass.

It is crucial to ensure that all power-related components are protected from rain and moisture while still allowing sufficient airflow to prevent overheating!

Raspberry Pi Setup

The Raspberry Pi is the core of the station. It detects motion, analyzes camera frames for hornets, and—upon a positive detection—uploads the event data to a database, where it is visualized on this website. For this, the station requires a stable Wi-Fi connection as well a power supply, which naturally limits the possible installation locations.

Installation instructions and detailed explanations can be found on the GitHub project page: https://github.com/KarstenMS/hornet-radar
Please note: the repository is currently not public until the code can be released with confidence :-).

Bait Liquid Recipe

  • 0.5 liters of white wine
  • 0.5 liters of dark beer
  • 0.5 liters of fruit syrup or 0.5 kg of sugar

The bait liquid can be stored in the refrigerator for a long time and is not attractive to bees.

Outlook

After the successful completion of initial field tests in 2026, two additional versions are planned:

  • A low-energy LTE version for mobile use with a solar module
  • A more affordable version based on a Raspberry Pi Zero and an entry-level camera