"Asian Hornet" seen in Cornwall

[SDM]

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)

It's as likely to be a consequence of ever more widespread and denser hornet populations
In Europe.
I doubt we'reeven close to peak annual incursion numbers yet

 

[Ian123]

I wonder what budget they have for this and at what stage they say weve done enough and can’t keep up

 

[Karol]

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)

This years nests are from last year's mated queens so this summer doesn't actually determine the number of incursions in this season.

It's impossible to know what number of incursions we've had over the past few years that have gone undetected and therefore unreported that have also failed.

Having a large sump of VV in France sustains the conditions for incursions into the UK but these incursions don't automatically translate into an established infestation. There would have to be evidence of successful propagation from one year to the next for that to be the case and the nests that have been found and destroyed haven't to my understanding been particularly vibrant or strong.

The strategy has to be to encourage French beekeepers to redouble their efforts to reduce/eradicate the sump population of VV which is where I remain convinced that the Mazzamazda method comes into its own. Mazzamazda's successes at knocking down VV populations in his vicinity are very impressive and reproducible which is excellent news. All that remains is for the great and the good to endorse the method and VV could be largely eradicated in continental Europe which would in one stroke drastically reduce risk of incursions.

As for the UK I think the NBU are doing a fantastic job surgically removing primaries. They deserve a big thank you.

 

[Stiffy]

.

As for the UK I think the NBU are doing a fantastic job surgically removing primaries. They deserve a big thank you.

Including myself, we are all very quick to criticise but they seem to be doing a very good job. Thanks from me too!
S

 

[For want of a better word]

As for the UK I think the NBU are doing a fantastic job surgically removing primaries. They deserve a big thank you.

Indeed they do, but thanks also to the many beekeepers who are fending off sightings from Jo publik that are finding European hornets....

CVB did you get the pics from St Dominic???

Yeghes da

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Indeed they do, but thanks also to the many beekeepers who are fending off sightings from Jo publik that are finding European hornets....

CVB did you get the pics from St Dominic???

Yeghes da

I did get the picture late last night - left my phone in the car - doh!

Not a brilliant photo for identification purposes but there is a distinct lack of yellow on the legs and rather too much yellow on the abdomen. I'm pretty sure it's a Vespa crabro but I've sent the photo to two SBIs who've seen a Vv live, for confirmation.

Up to this year I'd seen maybe one native hornet a year since I've been keeping bees. This year I've seen hundreds and they are behaving just like their asian cousins - taking large numbers of bees and wasps at foraging points and in apiaries. My sympathy for the native hornet is wearing thin - their behaviour is changing the ways bees are behaving - 20 or so guard bees out on the landing board ready to ball any hornet that comes too close, etc. Let's hope this go back to normal next year

CVB

 

[Karol]

I did get the picture late last night - left my phone in the car - doh!

Not a brilliant photo for identification purposes but there is a distinct lack of yellow on the legs and rather too much yellow on the abdomen. I'm pretty sure it's a Vespa crabro but I've sent the photo to two SBIs who've seen a Vv live, for confirmation.

<snip>

CVB

Categorically crabro.

 

[Codford]

Categorically crabro.

Agreed. I guess the clue is in the Latin name “Nigrithorax” - the thorax in the pic is definitely brown, not black.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Categorically crabro.

Yes, confirmed as Vespa crabro by local SBI, who has seen live Vespa velutina at Fowey.

CVB

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I did get the picture late last night - left I've sent the photo to two SBIs who've seen a Vv live, for confirmation.

Wouldn't it be better to send the photo to the AH identification app to be formally identified by the BWARS team?

 

[kazmcc]

Please don't keep any potential sightings to yourselves. The images/specimens will have to be verified by the BWARS team before any action can be taken anyway, whether you send them down official channels or not. I know many of you would like to be at the forefront of this situation but you would just be prolonging the process. If you are serious about this then you will not delay.

Can I just add that it isn't the BWARS team that are responsible for holding back the information. As soon as they are given the go ahead to release the information it is up in minutes.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Please don't keep any potential sightings to yourselves. The images/specimens will have to be verified by the BWARS team before any action can be taken anyway, whether you send them down official channels or not.

Unless you just take action yourself (instead of all this palaver) which your going to have to do anyway in the not too distant future.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The reason things got out of hand in France is because there wasn't a concerted and coordinated action from the outset to control it.
So now you want to bypass the system and have vigilante groups stomping about all over the countryside squirting fipronil around and actually getting in the way of a coordinated proactive approach to prevention of their spread rather than a panicked reactionary approach when it is too late.

 

[Quis Custodiet]

The reason things got out of hand in France is because there wasn't a concerted and coordinated action from the outset to control it.
So now you want to bypass the system and have vigilante groups stomping about all over the countryside squirting fipronil around and actually getting in the way of a coordinated proactive approach to prevention of their spread rather than a panicked reactionary approach when it is too late.

Thank heavens for good ole Jenky, He and he alone knows exactly what to do.........He is so predictable and so very amusing, the apoplectic old fool.

PS; the upper case "H" is deliberate and appropriate for someone with an avatar depicting himself with twelve apostles.

 

[domino]

The reason things got out of hand in France is because there wasn't a concerted and coordinated action from the outset to control it.
So now you want to bypass the system and have vigilante groups stomping about all over the countryside squirting fipronil around and actually getting in the way of a coordinated proactive approach to prevention of their spread rather than a panicked reactionary approach when it is too late.

If you think the government will be spending any money to control this pest once it becomes established here I have a bridge to sell you.

Beekeepers will be left to manage this problem on their own. Personally, I'll be using the only method I've seen that is low effort and highly effective.

 

[Codford]

Seems another AH has been found: http://www.guildford-dragon.com/201...tes-extra-asian-hornet-sighting-in-guildford/

 

[Hivemaker.]

Seems another AH has been found: http://www.guildford-dragon.com/201...tes-extra-asian-hornet-sighting-in-guildford/

The Pest Control News reported yesterday that there had been a confirmed sighting in North Devon.

Asian hornet confirmed in North Devon
26th September 2017

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Thank heavens for good ole Jenky, He and he alone knows exactly what to do.........He is so predictable and so very amusing, the apoplectic old fool.

PS; the upper case "H" is deliberate and appropriate for someone with an avatar depicting himself with twelve apostles.

And you're annual trolling is so predictable, it seems to be your raison d'etre.
Yet another who bring nothing else to the party.

FYI the 'twelve apostles' as you so drolly labelled them in your previous almost racial poke are in fact natives of Lesotho, male and female, either disabled, widowed, suffering from HIV from no fault of their own or struggling hard to try and earn a little extra as their children have died leaving them to care for the orphaned grandchildren.
I hope that makes you feel even more righteous that you've inadevertently (or maybe it was deliberate)picked on a really deserving group - each one of which would better ten of you.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Seems another AH has been found: http://www.guildford-dragon.com/201...tes-extra-asian-hornet-sighting-in-guildford/

Not according to DEFRA

 

[kazmcc]

Please don't go down the fiprinol route. Not only is it an illegal use of the chemical it is highly toxic to other wildlife. What do you think happens to a nest once it dies out? Birds, other beneficial insects and mammals move in to clear it up. Please think about other things than honeybees. It is also important that these nests are analysed so we fully understand the spread. That would not occur by 'dealing with it yourselves'. Let's be responsible about this. Beekeepers have proved to be an ingenious bunch over the years with the recent threat varroa posed, let's not pose a threat ourselves and start looking at other ways to protect your livestock.