"Asian Hornet" seen in Cornwall

[charlievictorbravo]

Turned out it wasn't an Asian Hornet (AH) but here's the story.

I had a pm on this forum yesterday from a beek I know who had lost my contact details. Message said:
"Hi
Had a phone call from an ex-beekeeper friend in Mary Tavy.
He has had a beekeeper from South Wales staying at Lydford, who was very concerned and claims that he saw Asian Hornets in a yellow shrub outside the National Trust teashop at Cotehele... taking honey bees.
Quite why the message was passed to me I do not know.
No photo or sample, but chap was convinced they were Asian Hornets

Thought your group may be interested... have sent email to the alien species lot!

Good Luck"

As a coordinator for a newly formed Asian Hornet Action Team, I started phoning down my contact list and the first two volunteers that I spoke to said they would stop what they were doing and meet me at Cotehele, a National Trust property in Calstock, Cornwall. We met up by the teashop and found the shrub that was attracting all the insects - it was Pileostegia viburnoides (common name "Climbing Hydrangea"). The plants were absolutely covered in all sorts of pollinators, including: honey bees, wasps, several types of bumble bee (including queens), hover flies and other flies.
Feeding on these were European Hornets(EH). We saw EHs take a wasp and a honeybee. The EHs behaved just like an Asian Hornet (AH) in that they took their prey to a perch and bit the head off, possible more, before flying off with the remains. The one difference appeared to be that the EH took a static prey feeding on the plant whereas we are informed the AH takes its prey in the air. Trying to follow the flight of the hornet, as they are doing in Jersey, to track the hornets to their nest, was very difficult.

The conclusion that we came to after watching for half an hour was that what had been seen by the Welsh Beekeeper was a European Hornet behaving like an Asian Hornet and the speed of flight meant that a casual watcher from the teashop tables would not realise that it was the native hornet and not the invasive species.

How did we feel at the end of our first call-out? Well, relieved in a sense that it was a false alarm. I was personally grateful that the first people I called to assist dropped what they were doing and drove out to Calstock with cameras and nets ready for action.

Today, I reported our findings to the local SBI and sent him photos of what we had seen. He checked with the RBI who decided that he should put up a monitoring trap (which a forum member has offered to check daily).

The big lesson that came out of this is that some beekeepers still don't know how to identify Asian Hornets, despite all the efforts over the last two years by the NBU. Come on guys, wake up!

CVB

 

[Erichalfbee]

The big lesson that came out of this is that some beekeepers still don't know how to identify Asian Hornets, despite all the efforts over the last two years by the NBU. Come on guys, wake up!

CVB

Tell me! The number of “ is this an Asian Hornet?” Posts on the Asian Hornet database on FB is a joke. The banner is an Asian Hornet yet people still post pictures of some innocent wasp or fly

 

[Swarm]

Crabro will take prey on the wing as well.

 

[enrico]

Unless of course he was right and had seen an AH. Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean he is useless at identifying it.... Bit concerned that that seems to be the attitude of your post.
But then I wasn't there so ...... Let's hope he is mistaken!
E

 

[SDM]

Crabro will take prey on the wing as well.

Velutina is just better at it.

 

[Barbarian]

I note that in post #1 it was very difficult to follow the flight line of the hornet.
I wonder if it would be possible to find another feeding station about half a mile away.
By drawing circles of different diameters (on a map) would it be possible to get an idea where the nest is by the overlapping of the circles ?

 

[simonforeman]

Have to agree with enrico.... the tone of the op is not good to get people reporting on a serious potential problem.... even if some are false alarms as the 1 that is not reported because somebody is unsure may not be a false alarm.....

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

At least dad's army was there to save the day.

 

[applejack33]

Asian hornets

I had a European hornet buzzing around 2 nucs in my apiary a few days ago.
Apart from the buzzing its size compared to a honey bee was quite notable. Equally, in good light its brownish colouring stood out. For me the colouring would be the main decider as to what it was.
I watched as it circled the nucs and another national hive and admit I was amazed when it suddenly grabbed a honey bee on the wing, about 3 feet in front of me. It immediately flew away from me in a westerly direction through a stand of trees, the largest and nearest of which was an Oak about 30 feet away. I didn't notice it stop to dismember the bee before disappearing out of sight.
The two main things I was aware of was the noise, buzzing and the distinct brownish colour. As the Asian hornet is described as mainly black and I believe slightly smaller than the European I feel sure I would now be able to distinguish between the two having had this experience.
This occurred around 4pm and continued for at least a half hour. Whether it was the same one returning at about 8 or 9 minute intervals, or whether it was more than one I don't know. Should have been equipped with a long handled swotter and may have knocked one down to establish if it was the same one each time or different ones.
I wonder how many beeks are not even kitted out with the basic swotter, as I was not, for when the AH makes its inevitable appearance unexpectedly ? Or to put it another way, how many are prepared?

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Have to agree with enrico.... the tone of the op is not good to get people reporting on a serious potential problem.... even if some are false alarms as the 1 that is not reported because somebody is unsure may not be a false alarm.....

That was part of the problem - the person who saw these hornets did not report what he saw. Dad's Army got the information second hand via his campsite owner.

Every beekeeper should be able to identify an Asian Hornet immediately and if you do identify one, you don't report it to your campsite owner. You take photographs and tell the NNSS. Captain Mainwaring, Sgt Wilson and Cpl Jones spent an hour searching for an Asian Hornet but all we saw was European Hornets. We probably got it wrong - the bloke who saw them first was probably right, wasn't he, just couldn't be a***d to report it properly? As if!

CVB

 

[charlievictorbravo]

I had a European hornet buzzing around 2 nucs in my apiary a few days ago.
Apart from the buzzing its size compared to a honey bee was quite notable. Equally, in good light its brownish colouring stood out. For me the colouring would be the main decider as to what it was.
I watched as it circled the nucs and another national hive and admit I was amazed when it suddenly grabbed a honey bee on the wing, about 3 feet in front of me. It immediately flew away from me in a westerly direction through a stand of trees, the largest and nearest of which was an Oak about 30 feet away. I didn't notice it stop to dismember the bee before disappearing out of sight.
The two main things I was aware of was the noise, buzzing and the distinct brownish colour. As the Asian hornet is described as mainly black and I believe slightly smaller than the European I feel sure I would now be able to distinguish between the two having had this experience.
This occurred around 4pm and continued for at least a half hour. Whether it was the same one returning at about 8 or 9 minute intervals, or whether it was more than one I don't know. Should have been equipped with a long handled swotter and may have knocked one down to establish if it was the same one each time or different ones.
I wonder how many beeks are not even kitted out with the basic swotter, as I was not, for when the AH makes its inevitable appearance unexpectedly ? Or to put it another way, how many are prepared?

Most beekeepers have a mobile phone with them when they're lone-working so can use that to a take a photo but I will admit, photographing them on the wing is VERY difficult. Dad's Army turned up at Cotehele with cameras and small shrimp nets. There was no need to catch one because what we saw was clearly a Crabbo but I did manage some photographs of stationary hornets. One is of a Crabbo on the ground and the other is a Crabbo butchering a honey bee. If your hornets did not look like this, download the NBU identification sheet and have another look. If you want help, contact your local CBKA group in Launceston

You don't want to be in the situation in which Martin Hocking found himself last year in Woolacombe - he had seen an Asian Hornet, he knew what it was but could not provide evidence to initiate action by the NBU. The AHATs were set up to help beekeepers in this situation so that there is help in this critical stage.

CVB

 

[For want of a better word]

At least dad's army was there to save the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1HwKA0J-gU
Even Pike can add something to the war effort


Pike
Yeghes da

 

[Hivemaker.]

If you don't want to be in the situation in which Martin Hocking found himself last year in Woolacombe - he had seen an Asian Hornet, he knew what it was but could not provide evidence to initiate action by the NBU.

Not a good situation that, so if anyone spots one and cannot provide evidence it is not worth contacting the NBU I assume.

I don't carry phones or cameras around so if I ever spot one I will just write about it on here as a reference to go back to, date spotted and where, etc.

 

[Stedic]

I sent a picture via the app a few days ago of something I found. I wasn't sure, my mentor wasn't sure, a beekeeper of 30 years wasn't sure. It was dead so sent good photos. Heard nothing, which is understanable if those manning the app are busy. Assumed it was OK. Saw a second two days later and was worried so rang SBI.

He asked for photos, decided it wasn't AH, then asked for more, then sent them to someone at York. They confirmed it was just a very dark Median wasp. But it took an entomologist to confirm it. My point being, dismissing reports is a very, very dangerous thing, especially when the majority will be from glancing views.

If the ID/response workload is too high, the solution is not to reduce the reporting but to increase funding. Aviation, industry and healthcare have all learnt that lesson the hard way.

That said, for all the Dads Army references, good on those people who are volunteering to help deal with these pesky bugs. I'm pretty sure they will get here before too long, let's hope they can be kicked back out again.

Mind you, won't AH need a visa after Brexit? I'm not sure they live long enough to survive the queues at the border!

 

[madasafish]

I always carry a camera when beekeeping. You can buy a cheap ebay camera which is perfectly serviceable - for under £30. Cover the LCD screen with a protector to reduce propolis damage and set it to Auto to reduce fiddling.

Top of the range 8 to 10 year old Canon point and shoot - NOT the expensive S95-110 models- are very tough - some have titanium bodies- are under £40. I have three (or is it four ? and I carry one everywhere. If I break it or damage the lens , not end of world.
eg Ixus 500 HS 12 zoom c £40 or less, Ixus 900IS or 960IS titanium - 4 zoom under £30.. Very good images.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Not a good situation that, so if anyone spots one and cannot provide evidence it is not worth contacting the NBU I assume.

I don't carry phones or cameras around so if I ever spot one I will just write about it on here as a reference to go back to, date spotted and where, etc.

The situation highlighted above is exactly the situation that Martin Hocking was in. Maybe as a result of better triage methods, you might now get a response - certainly Cotehele was on our SBI's visit list but our Dad's Army AHAT got there first.

I spoke to the SBI half an hour ago and he was at Cotehele to confirm what we had seen and to place a monitoring trap. I'm not sure that would have happened last year so maybe the NBU has upped its game as a result of experience and feedback - certainly, our branch of Dad's Army learned a lot from its first call to action.

CVB

 

[For want of a better word]

Pike is on the ball.... and rolling!!

Yeghes da

 

[birdsandbees]

I was at Cothele almost exactly a year ago, I am familiar with the toilet block covered in Climbing hydrangea as I spend a good few minutes watching the enormous amount of Bees on it.
I do agree that before crying wolf that the person reporting should be pretty darn sure that they are seeing what they say, its akin to the desperate calls regarding swarms of Honey Bees where the person is positive it's a swarm but after dropping everything, grabbing your kit and driving ten miles post haste to get there only to then discover that they are bumbles or wasps.

 

[enrico]

I was at Cothele almost exactly a year ago, I am familiar with the toilet block covered in Climbing hydrangea as I spend a good few minutes watching the enormous amount of Bees on it.
I do agree that before crying wolf that the person reporting should be pretty darn sure that they are seeing what they say, its akin to the desperate calls regarding swarms of Honey Bees where the person is positive it's a swarm but after dropping everything, grabbing your kit and driving ten miles post haste to get there only to then discover that they are bumbles or wasps.

These are genuine mistakes from lack of knowledge. Would you make sure that the pain in your chest was actually a heart attack before you called 999? No because you are not a doctor. People act in good faith, if you don't want to take any notice then that is your call. I just think some are being a bit harsh on someone who had a genuine worry and was not trying to con anyone.
E

 

[birdsandbees]

These are genuine mistakes from lack of knowledge. Would you make sure that the pain in your chest was actually a heart attack before you called 999? No because you are not a doctor. People act in good faith, if you don't want to take any notice then that is your call. I just think some are being a bit harsh on someone who had a genuine worry and was not trying to con anyone.
E

and that's why our NHS is knackered! people with heart burn calling for an Ambulance!

yes, I would have to be pretty confident that what I had was a heart attack before wasting someones time, as you said 'lack of knowledge' I know early signs of a heart attack, not because I have a pre-existing heart issue but because I have been educated or educated myself.

It's not the end of the end of the world but while the are off on a wild goose chase somewhere else there may be a genuine sighting that they can't get to or are now more reluctant to take seriously.

Or to use your analogy, the patient with Heart burn has now taken up the Ambulance crew and meanwhile someone else is dying from a genuine heart attack.