Asian Hornet Presentation at National Honey Show

[almostBees]

In case people havent seen it, Nigel Semmence's presentation from the National Honey Show 2023 on what the situation was at the end of October is up on youtube -

 

[Paulypaul]

Experiences a bit of channel islands heat, and some pressure from the back of the room.

 

[ericbeaumont]

No future-proof ideas, talked only about honey bees, bigger picture not discussed, no more cash from DEFRA. Quite predictable, unfortunately.

 

[Superlativesoul]

In case people havent seen it, Nigel Semmence's presentation from the National Honey Show 2023 on what the situation was at the end of October is up on youtube -

Many thanks for posting this ,have enjoyed watching his presentation and the discussion about the problem we face with AH ,we all need to be vigilant and awareness is very important.Have shared this with my fellow beekeepers and the Association who I can say are very proactive on this issue .
John.

 

[Moobee]

I found it quite depressing. Very little useful information or advice for beekeepers mostly designed not to make us panic too much.... thought Richard Noel's talk was more useful.
Why is no-one discussing how to eradicate the buggers? Too much emphasis on worrying about bycatch from trapping queens in spring. There won't be many insects left to bycatch if we don't catch the queens IMHO with AH's reportedly consuming upto 12.5kg of insects per colony....

 

[drex]

I think he said he would come up with more useful guidance in January or February when they had analysed the data. All was politically correct. If what I have read is true, I think the fipronil custard is a great idea, but fear it will never be officially sanctioned

 

[Rob H]

I found it quite depressing. Very little useful information or advice for beekeepers mostly designed not to make us panic too much.... thought Richard Noel's talk was more useful.
Why is no-one discussing how to eradicate the buggers? Too much emphasis on worrying about bycatch from trapping queens in spring. There won't be many insects left to bycatch if we don't catch the queens IMHO with AH's reportedly consuming upto 12.5kg of insects per colony....

Totally agree and we'll be trapping on the off chance of catching one in Sunny Devon whilst attempting to mitigate for a bycatch. Is their idea that if we don't try to trap them then we won't catch any and we can pretend the problem doesn't exist?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I think the fipronil custard is a great idea, but fear it will never be officially sanctioned

Just like generic Oxalic

 

[almostBees]

Nigel (and the RBI who talked at the Hampshire day) made it plain that they are not policy makers so they were not in a position to talk about APHA/NBU plans/advice for next year, but were saying what they had been doing all summer - and it looked pretty tough work (especially capel-le-ferne).

So we're still left waiting (an interminably long time) until January before we get direction, and they (APHA/NBU/BBKA) dont seem to realise that beekeepers abhor a vacuum.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Nigel (and the RBI who talked at the Hampshire day) made it plain that they are not policy makers so they were not in a position to talk about APHA/NBU plans/advice for next year, but were saying what they had been doing all summer - and it looked pretty tough work (especially capel-le-ferne).

So we're still left waiting (an interminably long time) until January before we get direction, and they (APHA/NBU/BBKA) dont seem to realise that beekeepers abhor a vacuum.

And just who is advising APHA so that a strategy can be formulated?

 

[Mint Bee]

I think he said he would come up with more useful guidance in January or February when they had analysed the data. All was politically correct. If what I have read is true, I think the fipronil custard is a great idea, but fear it will never be officially sanctioned

We will all wait on the new guidance, but I got the distinct impression that there was no new money to implement any new strategy. Sound like a DIY approach. The question on whether policy inactivity (as illustrated with F&H, and Covid by the questioner) will make the the outcome significantly worse that it could have been was appropriate

 

[RichardK]

As someone who unfortunately has to deal with asian hornets my best recommendations would be:

• catch, apply custard early on and release before they've built up.
• keep your colonies strong certainly from September onwards as late season is the worst time
• trap - any asian hornet taken out is a bonus
• make sure the entrance is too small for a hornet to get past should volumes be problematic

I didn't apply the custard early and have paid the price this season having lost 3 colonies. One in particular was very large and was my fault. Believing their sheer size to be sufficient to ward off any intruders I went on holiday for 10 days without putting in place an anti-hornet entrance. I came home to find hornets coming and going at will - I killed around 40'ish that evening at dusk - I was swatting too quick to count. The next day over 2.5 hours I killed 301 asian hornets which is by far the most I've ever had over a day. Once the message goes out that there's a free meal the pressure really piles on.

 

[drex]

He did say no more money would be made available. There's a surprise

 

[rolande]

He did say no more money would be made available. There's a surprise

That should be of real concern, presumably no more money means continued strain on the bee inspection side of their job.

 

[ericbeaumont]

And just who is advising APHA so that a strategy can be formulated?

They really ought to contact Karol, have a scientific assessment of the custard method and find a way to fast-track its use.

 

[ericbeaumont]

That should be of real concern, presumably no more money means continued strain on the bee inspection side of their job.

Yes, and pretty soon it'll be game over.

 

[Mint Bee]

They really ought to contact Karol, have a scientific assessment of the custard method and find a way to fast-track its use.

unfortunately Eric that doesn't fit with the legislation in place, whether one agrees with this or not .I doubt there will ever be any 'official' use or recommendation of the custard method. As it stands, It would acknowledge off label use of pesticides, something that no government agency would legally be allowed to support. firstly, its not a approved formulation and would require the mixing of an additional protein solution to the fipronil, something very rarely licensed for over the counter medicines (general public cant be trusted to follow basic instructions, but could be licensed to approved pest controllers possibly). Secondly why would a company be bothered to go through the effort of generating expensive stability and efficacy data, plus the cost of the new formulation application when there are recipes to be found on line anyone can use unofficially. Its not for DEFRA, VMD, etc., to propose new medicines / formulations,; they just review what is put in front of them. Whilst data in the public domain may be indicative, I doubt on its own it would be suitable for a license application. Thirdly, catch and release is against the law for non native species. applies equally for AH, signal crayfish or grey squirrel and loads others unless under license from the government.


Despite the extensive work from the inspectors, it very much feels like we are being left to sort this out as beekeepers ourselves if we are to provide some sort of control.

#mazzamazda

 

[OldFarm]

I found it quite depressing. Very little useful information or advice for beekeepers mostly designed not to make us panic too much.... thought Richard Noel's talk was more useful.
Why is no-one discussing how to eradicate the buggers? Too much emphasis on worrying about bycatch from trapping queens in spring. There won't be many insects left to bycatch if we don't catch the queens IMHO with AH's reportedly consuming upto 12.5kg of insects per colony....

I think the problem is the sheer quantity of by-catch that will be wiped out, and the cascade of problems that will follow as a direct result. Add to that the astonishingly low level of understanding of the situation by some beekeepers and the situation is a mess.

At the end of last weeks Washup meeting Alistair Christie said "Lines of communication are not clear. It's going to be a battle next year." I'm not looking forward to it.

 

[ericbeaumont]

He did say no more money would be made available. There's a surprise

Ironic that this week DEFRA awarded £45m to help farmers to increase production, £8m of which is to boost industrial research and experimental development projects, and £5m to help farmers prepare nature projects that may attract investment from the private sector.

Given that AH will have significant impact on future food production, you'd hope it would attract interest.

 

[ericbeaumont]

doesn't fit with the legislation in place

Oh, I agree, there's no chance of the Govt. or their departments waking up fast enough to enable the use of the only really effective tool available, before the NBU are overwhelmed and AH here to stay.