"Asian Hornet" seen in Cornwall

[Ian123]

am thinking an asian hornet immitation trout fly may be in order for my next visit down that way

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Winchester

I have not had an email from the nbu yet..

North of Winchester - Should be a press release today..................allegedly

 

[steve1958]

Two confirmed sightings in the past two days.
The first in Alresford where the nest has been found and destroyed.
The second in Lymington, NBU working hard today to try and locate the nest.

 

[domino]

Anyone got a video tutorial for the custard method? I think I'm going to need it next year.

 

[Ian123]

Go practice on some wasps

 

[domino]

Go practice on some wasps

I was thinking about trying it on McDonald's delivery drivers.

 

[Ian123]

I was thinking about trying it on McDonald's delivery drivers.

Yes but when you start battering them first with the electric swatter you are liable for arrest.....on the other hand the muppets on pizza delivery bikes could be more realistic for training purposes

 

[pargyle]

Two confirmed sightings in the past two days.
The first in Alresford where the nest has been found and destroyed.
The second in Lymington, NBU working hard today to try and locate the nest.

It's a bit worrying to say the least ... Arleford ? Nowhere near anything that might be transporting them .. Lymington - possibly brought in by a Yachtie by accident but I wonder whether the warm summer we've had and the prevailing South westerlies have brought them across the channel ? Only 63 miles to Cherbourg as the hornet flies .. plenty of cross channel ferries and the concentration of beekeepers in this neck of the woods must make it Asian Hornet heaven ....

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's a bit worrying to say the least ... Arleford ? Nowhere near anything that might be transporting them .. Lymington - possibly brought in by a Yachtie by accident but I wonder whether the warm summer we've had and the prevailing South westerlies have brought them across the channel ? Only 63 miles to Cherbourg as the hornet flies .. plenty of cross channel ferries and the concentration of beekeepers in this neck of the woods must make it Asian Hornet heaven ....

Maybe the first step in the right direction would be to ban WAFI's from our waters then?
I remember years ago patrolling the newhaven area and encountering clouds of wasp like hoverflies being swept from the continent - they were attracted to the gold braid of our epaulettes which was a bit disconcerting for some

 

[Worldsend]

Worrying

I work at Alresford it luckily my bees are elsewhere

News now circulating local bee groups but nothing official as yet

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hornet was spotted by a gardener who noticed some of the wasps eating his plums (oo err missus) looked a bit different.

 

[Karol]

Just been told that a modified Mazzamazda method is being trialled using poisoned liver. IMHO this method fails to appreciate wasp biology. Protein will be fed to grubs. So there are two issues. Firstly, the pesticide used has to be a larvicide to work but more importantly the method will not target the queen as protein is not trophallactically fed to the queen so the method will fail to wipe out the colony. Using a fipronil laced custard imports a trophallactic trojan into the nest which is why it's so effective because the trojan is passed directly onto the queen.

Interestingly, one of the sequelae of this treatment is that it wipes out the queen and adults leaving poorly developed larvae to starve and eventually pupate and fledge as diddy little hornets. A good sign that the treatment is hitting the mark.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Karol - It's interesting that there's a product called Vespex on sale in New Zealand for dealing with wasps using what is basically the Mazzamazda method using a bait station (not a zapper). The active ingredient is 0.1% w/w Fipronil!

The product will only be supplied to somebody who has undergone a training programme to use Vespex properly.

CVB

 

[Karol]

I wasn't aware but it would not surprise me. Bare in mind that wasps in NZ are an invasive species that cause unrestrained catastrophic damage to native fauna which justifies the means. It would be wholly inappropriate to use such a product on wasps in the UK.

I also think using a bait station is high risk for non target species. Honeybees come to mind.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I wasn't aware but it would not surprise me. Bare in mind that wasps in NZ are an invasive species that cause unrestrained catastrophic damage to native fauna which justifies the means. It would be wholly inappropriate to use such a product on wasps in the UK.

I also think using a bait station is high risk for non target species. Honeybees come to mind.

I'm given to understand the New Zealand vespex/cat food bait stations are of no interest to honey bees. The recipe was developed with this in mind.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Vespex.

https://www.merchento.com/vespex.html

Cost-effective wasp control over large areas is now a reality with Vespex® ‒ a bait designed specifically for the control of Vespula wasp species (yellow jackets). There is no requirement to find the nests, as the wasps gather the bait from Wasptek™ bait stations and carry it back to the nest. The wasps then share the bait around nest-mates, including the queen, quickly destroying the whole colony.



Vespex® is not at all attractive to bees, and is of very low risk to birds, pets and people. The bait does contain an ecotoxin though, and there are some strict stewardship controls in place to ensure that the bait is used in a way that does not present a threat to the environment.

 

[Karol]

I'm given to understand the New Zealand vespex/cat food bait stations are of no interest to honey bees. The recipe was developed with this in mind.

Don't know of any protein baited wasp traps used in the UK so knowing how numpties behave there's a high risk of sweet baits being used. That's why even in NZ the product is under heavy stewardship control.

I have seen in my time working in this field, bowls of sugar left out laced with Ficam! Bait stations cannot be guarded all the time which is why the catch and release method is so much safer.

 

[Hivemaker.]

That's why even in NZ the product is under heavy stewardship control.

Not any more...

Wasp bait now available to public

Published:14/12/2015

Private Nelson company Merchento has announced that a new wasp bait Vespex, developed in conjunction with DOC, is now available for wider public use.

Until now this wasp tool has only been available for DOC-led operations on Public Conservation Land.

From today members of the public will be able to purchase Vespex wasp bait directly from Merchento for use on public or private land. They will have to pass an online test before they can purchase the bait.

We are expecting media and public interest in this announcement as there is strong demand for better tools to deal with wasps.

 

[domino]

Just been told that a modified Mazzamazda method is being trialled using poisoned liver. IMHO this method fails to appreciate wasp biology. Protein will be fed to grubs. So there are two issues. Firstly, the pesticide used has to be a larvicide to work but more importantly the method will not target the queen as protein is not trophallactically fed to the queen so the method will fail to wipe out the colony. Using a fipronil laced custard imports a trophallactic trojan into the nest which is why it's so effective because the trojan is passed directly onto the queen.

Interestingly, one of the sequelae of this treatment is that it wipes out the queen and adults leaving poorly developed larvae to starve and eventually pupate and fledge as diddy little hornets. A good sign that the treatment is hitting the mark.

I wonder if they are looking for a more passive method than spending the afternoon hornet hunting?

 

[madasafish]

I wonder if they are looking for a more passive method than spending the afternoon hornet hunting?

Hornet hunting may be impossible with 50 nests.. .(Of course the recent outbreak may be only due to the good summer and an average summer might see very few incursions)