"Asian Hornet" seen in Cornwall

[charlievictorbravo]

We will know if NBU are serious about setting up some cooperation between AHATs and them when They have had their promised meeting together to discuss cooperation, so maybe there is hope yet that beekeepers will get involved. We know from the number of volunteers Devon BKA have had on Jersey at the same time as Mr Semmence that NBU know we have good experience of doing the job now.....maybe even more expertise than inspectors!

I would like to know if the Beekpr who reported Fowey Hornet is a member of BKA since he seems to be off radar to his local AHAT!

We know nothing about the beekeeper who spotted the Asian Hornets and I suppose it's quite proper that his/her privacy is respected by the NBU. That person has not come forward and the president of Cornwall BBKA knows nothing more than we all do, so somebody seems to want privacy for his/her apiary and we should respect that.

The nearest CBKA group to Fowey is probably Bodmin but there is no AHAT organised there at the moment.

CVB

 

[For want of a better word]

I would like to know if the Beekpr who reported Fowey Hornet is a member of BKA since he seems to be off radar to his local AHAT!

From a quick count of the beekeepers I know in my area only half seem to be members of the local groups affiliated to the BKA... preferring to be under the Radar?... although some have now registered their colonies on Beebase since I pointed out the benefits..... and many who are members..... never attend association meetings ( I rarely do now) and would be unaware of AHATs!!

Nos da

 

[Barbarian]

Earlier this week I emptied a Plenty of Honey style trap.
I had baited it with pieces of fish from a tin of Mackerel in brine.
There were no VVs but it was almost solid with a kind of small bluebottles.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Our Dads' Army AHAT has been called out to another more credible sighting south of Liskeard. Will report back later. Must go, Captain Mainwaring's waiting.

CVB

 

[domino]

Time to build a wall.

 

[Ian123]

**** i did not think they are mexican

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Our Dads' Army AHAT has been called out to another more credible sighting south of Liskeard. Will report back later. Must go, Captain Mainwaring's waiting.

CVB

Would a 40kiloton thermonuclear explosion at a few thousand feet sterilize A large enough area?

 

[For want of a better word]

Would a 40kiloton thermonuclear explosion at a few thousand feet sterilize A large enough area?

Probably would sort out Northern France!

 

[madasafish]

Would a 40kiloton thermonuclear explosion at a few thousand feet sterilize A large enough area?

Given that rat/mouse like creatures survived the meteor impact at the Yucatan peninsula some 68 million years ago (which killed the dinosaurs allegedly) to become our ancestors, the answer is surely a resounding NO...

 

[ShinySideUp]

I have received an email informing of a possible sighting in a monitoring trap of an Asian Hornet South of Liskeard; this is not good news.

Made a monitoring trap this afternoon, what is the best bait at this time of year for AH's (preferably something that attracts AH's but doesn't make everyone else feel sick with the smell)?


Update:


Sorry, just read a post above which reports the same thing.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

what is the best bait at this time of year for AH's (preferably something that attracts AH's but doesn't make everyone else feel sick with the smell)?

... something that makes people sick at the smell - try prawns

 

[charlievictorbravo]

We had 6 members of our Dad's Army at a certain apiary, south of a certain town in Cornwall. We were watching for Asian Hornets after one was found in a wasp trap.

No AHs were seen today but 7 SBIs were seen and they did a splendid job setting up traps in the surrounding countryside to try to entice a further appearance of the elusive invader. Same again tomorrow - we'll watch the apiary and they'll beat the bushes away from the apiary looking for further AHs.

We have been asked not to divulge the whereabouts of the apiary to protect the privacy of the beekeeper and landowner. They are probably also worried about "Killer Invader Hornets Hunted in south east Cornwall " headline in the press and other media. In order to preserve our current good working relationship with the SBIs, I'm respecting their wishes but giving as much information to satisfy this forum.

The message coming out loud and clear is that all beekeepers should put out monitoring traps. If you're in Cornwall and don't have a monitoring trap, use an old fashioned wasp trap but monitor it regularly. The hornets are taking both sweet and fish bait although this latter does not take long to start smelling pretty awful.

One thing noted today was the number of bees being taken by European Hornets. One guy was watching three hives and reckoned that one bee every 4- 5 minutes was being taken by our native hornets. The warm summer seems to have created many more native hornets nests than in former years. Maybe the numbers of bees taken are not big enough to damage a colony but might be enough to change bee behaviour and stress the bees.

Early night tonight, early start in the morning.

CVB

 

[user 3509]

Thanks for that information Charlie Victor Bravo.

 

[Hivemaker.]

The message coming out loud and clear is that all beekeepers should put out monitoring traps.

...and if you find anything, keep it reasonably secret, seems to be the trend.

 

[Karol]

<snip>

One thing noted today was the number of bees being taken by European Hornets. One guy was watching three hives and reckoned that one bee every 4- 5 minutes was being taken by our native hornets. The warm summer seems to have created many more native hornets nests than in former years. Maybe the numbers of bees taken are not big enough to damage a colony but might be enough to change bee behaviour and stress the bees.

Early night tonight, early start in the morning.

CVB

The other factor which I'm also inclined to think has influenced wasp and hornet numbers is the decline in use of neonicotinoids.

 

[Stiffy]

This is not to disrespect the good work some do!
But I like many have a good number of out apiaries scattered around the Duchy. If or rather when I find Asian hornets at 2/3 and another beek finds a similar number, how on earth are a handful of SBI’s going to cope?
Do they call in the ‘proper’ army or just throw hands in the air and give up?
The other thing is as I have little knowledge of the hornets ecology; inspections and visits to hives are now decreasing as the season draws to an end, is it now that hornets are going to establish or will our winters kill them off?
S

 

[Karol]

There's too little information to know.

Hornets feeding on protein suggest the presence of brood. That being the case one would expect higher numbers of hornets to be evident at least at near by apiaries.

Sweet feeding hornets are more difficult to interpret as a risk. That's because:

a) They may be in their sweet feeding phase post release of sexual progeny from the nest ('bomb's gone off').
b) They may be sweet feeding to supplement lack of carbohydrates available from within the nest. When the nest has brood prior to the release of sexual progeny, adult hornets will feed trophallactically on the carbohydrate liquid regurgitated by the brood in the nest digested from the insects they eat. If the brood doesn't get enough insect prey they can't produce enough carbohydrates to feed the adults so the adults will visit external carbohydrate sources. ('bomb yet to go off'). One of the behaviours exhibited by velutina hunting at apiaries is that if they exhaust themselves during hunting they will visit near by nectar sources to replenish their power packs so that they can continue hunting without necessarily having to go back to their nest to feed.
c) They may be sweet feeding because they are solitary stray workers that have stowed away on board traffic going to and from infested areas on the continent or channel islands. ('no bomb to go off').

 

[For want of a better word]

This is not to disrespect the good work some do!
But I like many have a good number of out apiaries scattered around the Duchy

I am " keeping an eye on" a couple of out apiaries belonging to another beekeeper friend not too far from the second reported sighting of an Asian Hornet in St...not allowed to say!... the hives are visible from the lane that abuts the land.
Yesterday I received a panic phone call from the landowner to say that there were people in white and green beesuits "messing around" in the apiary..... Not APHA officials I understand, as they would have been wearing their APHA issue dun coloured beesuits.. and as this particular apiary is registered on Beebase would have tried to contact the owner to let him know what was going on?

All of my hives have my email address clearly stenciled on them.... my friend is now going to do the same!

My message to all beekeepers is to have your details clearly visible on you colonies.
And to ask the vigilantes to respect other beekeepers property?


Incidentally my friend is working away in the Smoke was contacted by the landownwer, who then got in touch with me...

 

[Beefriendly]

The other factor which I'm also inclined to think has influenced wasp and hornet numbers is the decline in use of neonicotinoids.

The main factor for the increase in numbers has been the continuous hot non-interrupted summer. No weeks sat inside nest because the weather was too cold or too wet to fly. Just weeks and weeks of ideal weather.
I've rarely seen wasp nests as big as they are this season.
Nor had as large a summer honey crop.

 

[For want of a better word]

The main factor for the increase in numbers has been the continuous hot non-interrupted summer. No weeks sat inside nest because the weather was too cold or too wet to fly. Just weeks and weeks of ideal weather.
I've rarely seen wasp nests as big as they are this season.
Nor had as large a summer honey crop.

The man down the pub said that he had huge crops of honey pre varroa here in Cornwall in the 1980s using the local bee that we are all going on about as being a recent discovery.... but he was concerned about the Killer Hornets the French were sending over!!

Said my dismal crop of a ton or so would have been fed back to the bees, I think he was being grumpy as the "Tribute" was not on tap!!

Yeghes da