Asian Hornet

Sorry if this has already been posted somewhere on the forum....

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/invasion-beware-the-killer-hornet-2371353.html

Wouldn't it be nice if journalists and people in general could be factually correct?

Two obvious misleading quotes from the article.

Just a handful of the dark-bodied, yellow-legged hornets can destroy a bee colony in two hours

WRONG.

Fact. If you have a constant presence of five in front of a hive taking bees all day long the colony is doomed, but not in hours.

People are also at risk. In France, at least seven people were taken to hospital in 2009 after being attacked

Errr, well yes, but in context, more people will have been taken to hospital having been stung by bees, wasps and European Hornets or even bitten by Asp vipers BUT how many have died?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Chris

The 'attack of the killer hornets' headline put me on my guard.
However, it is interesting to see that the Non-Native Species Secretariat regard it as a certaintly that the UK will be pretty much unable to offer any resistance.

Quote Wouldn't it be nice if journalists and people in general could be factually correct? Unquote

I have had them for the last 4 years to a greater or lesser degree and have not lost a colony yet. Yes they do take bees and are very efficient hunters but thus far it has been single worker hornets rather than a mob attack and the bees ignore them unless they actually land on the entrance.

As they build their nest high in the trees (10 - 25m ) they are very difficult to find, in fact the only nest I have found was after the leaves had fallen in the Autumn when a whole seasons damage had been done - and it was less than 100m from the hives

If (when) they arrive in the UK trapping the queens in spring (Feb - May) before they get started seems to be most effective. After May all you catch are workers - makes you feel better but doesn't help much.

Summary - panic not they are not as bad as their press would have us believe

Just a couple of photos taken yesterday of Asian Hornets feeding on some residual waxed honey. Now the hornets have no larvae they are not a threat to the honey bees and ignore them completely.


Chris

Chris - realise you are very much a live and let live type of chap, do you let them be at this time of year, or always?

To be honest at this time of year it's simply not possible to kill them all, they are everywhere in large numbers, although I still succumb to the urge and kill some every day but it's a drop in the ocean. When they were active round the hives up to a couple of weeks ago I whack some but it's time consuming and probably a waste of time. February until May is the time to get the Queens that are fairly easily attracted to honey in the open - another good reason for my open air feed containers in Feb / March with no danger of robbing.

Live and let live only applies to native species - not invasive introductions, be that Asian Hornets, Coypu, American Mink, Grey squirrels, Himalayan Balsam and so on.

Hey ho, Chris

Report in Midi Libre paper today that a man of 56 from near Bordeux killed by 3 asian hornets being stung near throat

As I understand it that's only the fourth person to die from Asian Hornet stings in France so not so terrible, guaranteed however to create even more shocking French myths.

Link..

http://www.midilibre.fr/2011/10/31/le-frelon-asiatique-tue-pour-la-deuxieme-fois,410554.php

Chris

Does the nigrithorax have any effect on the good old european hornet? I'm curious, mostly from a grey squirrel/red squirrel point of view.

I don't kill hornets, I find them inexplicably beautiful.

As far as I know the answer is none what so ever. They have very different behavioural characteristics, different nesting preferences and generally different prey. I've never observed more than "jousting" between the two species which is exactly the same as it is between the same species.

Chris

I was near Cherbourg this August for a week or so, and a local beekeeper mentioned that they had got as far north as St. Malo - not long now!

The NBU have recently produced a fact sheet about these critters and it includes plans for a trap and various measures the beekeeper can employ to thwart them. It suggests trying to trap the over-wintered queens in the spring.

They have not to my knowledge been found in the UK (hornets not the NBU) yet but they are in France and now Belgium.

Kind of dispiriting that my 2000th post is about a new bee pest.

there was a colony in suffolk 2 yrs ago. they did not survive the winter, AFAIK.

RoofTops said:

They have not to my knowledge been found in the UK (hornets not the NBU) yet but they are in France and now Belgium.

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tonybloke said:

there was a colony in suffolk 2 yrs ago. they did not survive the winter, AFAIK.

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It looks likely that if, when, they do arrive, they'll spread in the same way as the Harlequin Ladybird has. http://www.harlequin-survey.org/spread.htm

I believe Varroa mite is the bees nemesys.
Not the Asian hornet.

Interestingly, although perhaps not surprisingly, I have more concerns about the Asian Hornet than I could ever have about "the mite".

Chris

Just you concentrate on looking after my bees, chris

Of course they may all be dead as they have never been treated, mind they were out and about yesterday - worryingly.

I also have catkins out in full flow 4 weeks earlier than last year and that was earlier than normal, I see the potential for a very dodgy time coming up in the next 8 weeks and I'm not a pessimist, could be challenging.

Chris

Chris Luck said:

Of course they may all be dead as they have never been treated, mind they were out and about yesterday - worryingly.

I also have catkins out in full flow 4 weeks earlier than last year and that was earlier than normal, I see the potential for a very dodgy time coming up in the next 8 weeks and I'm not a pessimist, could be challenging.

Chris

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Well they're sure in for a "treat" when they come to live with me, then