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warsaw_hive said:
We would call it a wick bait station.


Although the nest last year was reported as Rye, it was actually Four Oaks which explains the queen's being found in Four Oaks this year. If there are any other queens from this nest hopefully they can be all caught before their expansion. The NBU were putting a trap in every surrounding square kilometer.

Dover beekeepers in their region were aiming for 5 traps in every square kilometer. I think the French recommend a trap every 350m.
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Although it is true that not all queens arise from hibernation at the same time, at this point it is unlikely that there will be any hibernating queens left. The question I ask myself and for which I currently have no confirmed answer is:
At what point does a queen decide to move Xkm from the nest location of the previous year:
-How does it wake up from hibernation?
-When the primary nest is complete and the transfer and construction of a secondary nest is arranged?
-Before hibernating during the mating process as a measure to prevent inbreeding?
 
fian said:
Although it is true that not all queens arise from hibernation at the same time, at this point it is unlikely that there will be any hibernating queens left. The question I ask myself and for which I currently have no confirmed answer is:
At what point does a queen decide to move Xkm from the nest location of the previous year:
Click to expand...
She doesn't decide. New queens are released on mass as part of the concerted mating event (along with all of the other sexuals from all of the other nests). These new queens never return to their original nest. They mate and then look to hibernate asap which means finding a suitable secure location which is purely random and influenced greatly by prevailing wind and weather. The queens will be solitary during this phase and highly vulnerable.
fian said:
-How does it wake up from hibernation?
Click to expand...
Temperature consistently above 10°C. This is not the same as air temp. It's the temp of her physical surroundings. So a shaded damp rock crevice will remain colder than a dry wooden barn wall.
fian said:
-When the primary nest is complete and the transfer and construction of a secondary nest is arranged?
Click to expand...
This will be when there are sufficient workers for the queen to become nest bound. I have my personal theory as to why velutina behaves this way. I think it is an evolutionary adaptation driven by structural competence vs biological efficiency. A velutina nest needs to support a heavy biomass. To do so requires a significant foundation to be built. The energy, time and resource to do this is considerable. If the queen were to attempt such construction from the outset her chances of survival would drop dramatically because she would be exposed for far longer. So she builds a foundling nest which takes far less effort because it only has to support the weight of the first vanguard of workers that are required for her to become nest bound. These workers can then build a more robust nest that will bear the weight of the biomass of the colony. These nests typically get built with several tree branches being fused to provide lintel support as opposed to the nest hanging from a petiole.
fian said:
-Before hibernating during the mating process as a measure to prevent inbreeding?
Click to expand...
Smell. Sexuals from the same nest are repelled from each other by smell. There has been research done on this. Before you ask...no, I'm not going to provide the references. If you're interested you'll have to dig them out yourself. My life is too short to cataloguue each of the 1000+ papers I've digested.
 
To Karol:
Good morning, it is nice to read you again in the forum, despite our disagreement.
Just a note, nests are also built in the undergrowth at low altitudes, and even in the underground.
 
Lincolnshire association made a bulk order for hornet traps and I put my hand up. Boy scout in me, be prepared. Gard'Apis type.
Given the probability is very small where I am I'll pass it on at cost to someone in a hotspot when it arrives. (I'm keeping my eye out for reports in Hull again. Boston imports a lot of timber also) Will put in 'For Sale' forum.
I made an NBU style trap out of a plastic water bottle. It's been up for 6 weeks+ and has caught absolutely nothing. There was a lot of chatter about by-catch. No, not for me.
 
warsaw_hive said:
although two queens have been found to the south of this (one in a beekeeper trap)?
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I wish we had more precise locations. The etchinghill queen would be quite close to the Eurotunnel freight yard so again could just be a hitchhiker.

All 3 locations are within the reported NBU trapping region.
 
I wonder what most beekeepers would do faced with a small early nest like that. Wait for the nbu or make sure the queen was home and destroy it?
Hopefully if they kill it they keep it for analysis!
 
warsaw_hive said:
I wish we had more precise locations. The etchinghill queen would be quite close to the Eurotunnel freight yard so again could just be a hitchhiker.

All 3 locations are within the reported NBU trapping region.
Click to expand...

The location of nests along communication routes responds to hibernating queens looking for a new location.
A. Out of the reach of predators that live inside the field.
B. Higher temperature than in the field.
C. Greater ease of flight, since they can catch the currents of warm air emitted by the flow of vehicles.
 
Sutty said:
I wonder what most beekeepers would do faced with a small early nest like that. Wait for the nbu or make sure the queen was home and destroy it?
Hopefully if they kill it they keep it for analysis!
Click to expand...
In general, the recommendation is conservation of the primary nests to capture new queens. Have a jar at the bottom (where the entrance is) and catch the queen without destroying the nest. Once empty locate a fuse trap nearby and check to see if a new queen has settled.
 
fian said:
In general, the recommendation is conservation of the primary nests to capture new queens. Have a jar at the bottom (where the entrance is) and catch the queen without destroying the nest. Once empty locate a fuse trap nearby and check to see if a new queen has settled.
Click to expand...
Are you saying that queens are attracted to empty nests?
 
Sutty said:
Are you saying that queens are attracted to empty nests?
Click to expand...
As if it were the first animal to take advantage of the house empty by the previous tenant. Have you never used a bait hive to catch swarms?
 
fian said:
As if it were the first animal to take advantage of the house empty by the previous tenant. Have you never used a bait hive to catch swarms?
Click to expand...
Just because one species has that behaviour doesn't mean others do! After all AH doesn't swarm like honeybees.
I'd be interested if you had any evidence though as you said "In general, the recommendation is conservation of the primary nests to capture new queens" which implies recommendations from somewhere!
 
Etchinghill and Denton were identified risk locations:

IMG_20240523_122954.jpg

The pink dot is where the cafe with the primary nest is located.
 
We had a talk by Pete Davies at the association this week including an update of the AH trapping, etc. in Kent and Sussex. I didn't realize that lab tests can identify which nest the queens came from so you can tell whether a specimen is a new arrival (or undiscovered nest) or an overwintered queen. Some recently found queens overwintered from a nest destroyed last year. A number, x, have been caught but potentially there could be x+++ more. Worrying.
(sorry if stating the obvious. I haven't watched the 3hour YouTube video)

NBU/APHA/? sound to be doing some great work.
 
Parsonage Bees said:
Lincolnshire association made a bulk order for hornet traps and I put my hand up. Boy scout in me, be prepared. Gard'Apis type.
Given the probability is very small where I am I'll pass it on at cost to someone in a hotspot when it arrives. (I'm keeping my eye out for reports in Hull again. Boston imports a lot of timber also) Will put in 'For Sale' forum.
I made an NBU style trap out of a plastic water bottle. It's been up for 6 weeks+ and has caught absolutely nothing. There was a lot of chatter about by-catch. No, not for me.
Click to expand...
Timber imports use ports/wharves some considerable distance up the Humber Estuary and the rivers Ouse and Trent. A lot is sourced from the Baltic but ships do come in from other regions.
 
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