Deb, I have had to remove HOSP nesting material LOTS of times to set the trap & get it to trip. I usually try to set it before the nest gets that tall, but sometimes you do not notice them building until later. By ALL means, remove as much as you need to of the nesting material – they will be back! I usually always put a very small amount of their nesting material over the arm of the VanErt in-box trap so it is not so noticeable when they look in. I got this trick from this forum or from Sialis website. Makes common sense to camouflage it I believe. If you have not had HOSP during your 20+ years, all I can say is you are one lucky person. I know many on this forum use the ones caught in the box as a decoy in their ground repeating trap. But if this is a trail, it would be hard to monitor, but apparently you have been doing it. GO GET THEM!!
