Asian Hornet detection

[Superlativesoul]

Just wondering if dogs could be useful in sniffing out Asian hornets in our docks or points of entry . Any views on this ?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

very much doubt it - it's not even as if you are looking for a colony of them - just the odd single queen

 

[Dodge]

Horse has already bolted the stable door is my suspicion. Next year when hundreds if not a couple thousand queens all looking for a suitable place to build a nest throughout Kent, into Sussex and probably Greater London would need a few dogs.

 

[pargyle]

Horse has already bolted the stable door is my suspicion. Next year when hundreds if not a couple thousand queens all looking for a suitable place to build a nest throughout Kent, into Sussex and probably Greater London would need a few dogs.

Time will tell ... I think the South East (Kent, East Sussex and parts of London) share a fairly warm and drier climate than most other counties in the UK ... but some parts do get quite viscious winters and early springs .. it's my understanding (and I'm open to correction) that the Asian Hornet favours the less maritime/temperate climate found across the channel in Northern France. As a regular visitor to Northern France I've noticed the surprising difference in both winter and sunmmer climate between this side of the channel and the other. I'm rather hoping that this slight difference will make a big difference to the viability of the Asian Hornet in our Southernmost counties and an even bigger difference as they penetrate further North into the arctic regions north of the Watford gap.

Where I live we are really in the front line .. between the major cross channel ports of Portsmouth and Southampton and with the Solent and it's boating fraternity - it's 63 miles to Cherbourg so they are not going to fly across but there is plenty of cross channel traffic to provide a lift.

In Fareham we enjoy a very mild microclimate - protected to the South by the Isle of Wight and to the North by the Portsdown escarpment. We get mild winters, little if any snow or really hard frosts and with the Solent acting as a heat sump air temperatures in winter and summer tend to be above UK average. If AH is looking for suitable conditions to thrive - well - we have them here and it's an immense worry.

There is a lot of vigilance though and so far we seem to have escaped but you are right, the stable door is open - I just hope that everyone is keeping an eye on the horse !

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Time will tell ... I think the South East (Kent, East Sussex and parts of London) share a fairly warm and drier climate than most other counties in the UK .

combined with the fact that early this year they experienced a lot of Easterly/S Easterly winds which would have carried a lot more post hibernation queens over the channel, the Bee inspectors down there have said it's probably a lage factor in the phenomenon I remember years ago, patrolling the Dover straits one summer and we had those conditions which resulted in clouds of wasp like hoverflies being carried over the channel, they seemed to be attracted to gold braid so our shoulders were covered with them - especially the commander who had to use a lower ranker's cap without the scrambled egg.

Where I live we are really in the front line .. between the major cross channel ports of Portsmouth and Southampton and with the Solent and it's boating fraternity - it's 63 miles to Cherbourg so they are not going to fly across but there is plenty of cross channel traffic to provide a lift.

if you look at the vast majority of confirmed sightings/nests, they have been grouped around these pinch points, even the ones further North/inland have been near ICD's where containerised freight gets shipped directly from the ports to be cleared and redistributed.

 

[Dodge]

combined with the fact that early this year they experienced a lot of Easterly/S Easterly winds which would have carried a lot more post hibernation queens over the channel, the Bee inspectors down there have said it's probably a lage factor in the phenomenon I remember years ago, patrolling the Dover straits one summer and we had those conditions which resulted in clouds of wasp like hoverflies being carried over the channel, they seemed to be attracted to gold braid so our shoulders were covered with them - especially the commander who had to use a lower ranker's cap without the scrambled egg.

if you look at the vast majority of confirmed sightings/nests, they have been grouped around these pinch points, even the ones further North/inland have been near ICD's where containerised freight gets shipped directly from the ports to be cleared and redistributed.

The bit I can't quite understand is why there are no sightings around the major cities of Manchester and Birmingham where the temperature is warmer due to conninations and the sheer number of vehicles arriving from the continent plus caravans and vampire from their continental holidays.

Suggest to me that perhaps the Hornets have flown / blown over.

 

[Karol]

The bit I can't quite understand is why there are no sightings around the major cities of Manchester and Birmingham

Velutina is a specialised warm forested wetland species. Comparatively dry and cold in Brum and Manchester with insufficient insect prey and nectar sources to sustain viable populations.

where the temperature is warmer due to conninations and the sheer number of vehicles arriving from the continent plus caravans and vampire from their continental holidays.

Suggest to me that perhaps the Hornets have flown / blown over.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The bit I can't quite understand is why there are no sightings around the major cities of Manchester and Birmingham

would you go there by choice?

 

[pargyle]

I think JBM is on the money. I suspect that the insects would have more chance of stowing away either on the vessel crossing the Channel or in/on the containers or commercial vehicles. I think the chances of an insect of the size of the AH not being discovered in a car, caravan or motor home is remote. Crossing the Dover straight under their own power with a following breeze is a possibility but I can't see an insect of the sedentary territorial nature of hornets deliberately setting off to cross the Channel... even less likelihood of them making the Crossing and ending up in Felixstowe ! The Channel tunnel traffic is also an obvious potential for them to hitch a lift.

I'm not convinced that what we are seeing is a conscious effort by AH to expand into the UK...I think they are more likely to be accidental relocations ...but having arrived they have little option but to thrive or die.

Just as much risk whether it is deiberate species expansion or accidental relocation.

 

[Tony Warren]

The subject of detection sniffer dogs comes up occasionally in all sorts of areas. I work a cadaver dog, I have also trained to detect Asian Hornet nests, and she has detected them in various environments. The nests low down are easy, the nests high in trees can be and are detected but with a higher level of training and ability. I believe that a sniffer dogs would be a useful tool to have in the toolbox for tracking teams in the right situation. My attempts to introduce this have been rebuffed due to safety concerns.
The process of training these dogs is well established, the main training is around the risks and dangers involved. Some of the dog training groups I work with train dogs for all sort of environments, some of which are far more dangerous than a hornet attack, to say the least. The challenge is to develop a method to minimise the hazard. There is a working method that protects both the dog and handler.
My dog detects the nest material but a dog could be trained to detect an individual insect, they are for example used to detect bed bugs. However the work pattern is 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off and it is not a fast process. The number of dogs needed and the delays that it would cause make the prospect of using them at ports unfeasible.

 

[Dodge]

would you go there by choice?

Hell yes. The Major cities are different worlds compared to the rest of the country. Not living in one would be like living like a hermit.

But I know what you mean, the Gower is peacefull and away fro the maddening crowd.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

the Gower is peacefull

no such place as The Gower it's just Gower

 

[Parsonage Bees]

I loose track of where we are with Brexit and trade across the channel but . .. . is anyone even checking containers, trucks, caravans from the continent?

The EU is doing border checks but we decided not to carry out checks (am I right?), we delayed them ("we" as in the elected government). So are containers just being waved through? Even some half educated border force employee might notice an odd looking hornet.

 

[Tony Warren]

I loose track of where we are with Brexit and trade across the channel but . .. . is anyone even checking containers, trucks, caravans from the continent?

The EU is doing border checks but we decided not to carry out checks (am I right?), we delayed them ("we" as in the elected government). So are containers just being waved through? Even some half educated border force employee might notice an odd looking hornet.

From Wikipedia, so accurate(?)..."Dover is one of the world's busiest maritime passenger ports, with 11.7 million passengers, 2.6 million lorries, 2.2 million cars and motorcycles and 80,000 coaches passing through it in 2017,[1] and with an annual turnover of £58.5 million a year.[2] This contrasts with the nearby Channel Tunnel, the only fixed link between the island of Great Britain and the European mainland, which now handles an estimated 20 million passengers and 1.6 million trucks per year." You would have to recruit more staff.

 

[Sutty]

Velutina is a specialised warm forested wetland species. Comparatively dry and cold in Brum and Manchester with insufficient insect prey and nectar sources to sustain viable populations.

This has to be the only time I've seen Manchester described as "dry"!!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I loose track of where we are with Brexit and trade across the channel but . .. . is anyone even checking containers, trucks, caravans from the continent?

of course we are

The EU is doing border checks but we decided not to carry out checks (am I right?)

no - we still do juxtaposed checks ( most of our 'inward' checks are being done in France)

So are containers just being waved through?

no haven't you seen it on the news with outward bound traffic piling up on the approaches to Dover? it's the same, but not so chaotic on the other side. many hauliers on the continent are now reluctant to bring freight through the ferry ports because of the delays so are either turning down contracts (thus the difficulty of getting fresh foodstuffs etc. from abroad) or hiking up their fees - part of the reason for the price increases in bee feed/fondant which is mostly produced in Belgium. Ordering invert last year was a bit of a lottery as, on top of the price increases Belgosuc and others couldn't guarantee delivery times as they had to scrape around for hauliers willing to put up with the entry processing delays at the ferry ports.