Asian Hornet - Update

[Gilberdyke John]

And highly irresponsible. Thought you were better than this Hivemaker!

There are lots of non target species that'll take kitty-kat. Please anyone reading this, don't do this - it's irresponsible and ecologically insensitive.

That information about Fipronil and cat food is freely available on the web Karol. I don't think Hivemaker has let any cats out of bags there.

 

[Hivemaker.]

That information about Fipronil and cat food is freely available on the web Karol. I don't think Hivemaker has let any cats out of bags there.

Yes, cat food is actually used, sardines are also good bait apparently, several research papers around about large scale wasp killing methods using Fipronil..

Seems to be very effective...

The reduction in traffic rate at nests in sites withpoisoned baits reached 96.40 62.83%, 24 h after poi-
soning wasps. One week later the reduction in traffic rate was 99.40
60.66%, and 2 wk later the reductionwas 100%. No wasps were seen at those nests through the remainder of the wasp season.

APICULTURE AND SOCIAL INSECTS
Successful Removal of German Yellowjackets
(Hymenoptera: Vespidae) by Toxic Baiting

http://sipan.inta.gob.ar/productos/ssd/nqn/ecologiadeinsectos/pdfs/Sackmann et al 2001.pdf

Here is another one...

Comparison of baits containing fipronil and
sulfluramid for the control of Vespula wasps

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03014223.2001.9518255

Methods used with cat food and fipronil are even on you tube, what a surprise.

 

[mbc]

Methods used with cat food and fipronil are even on you tube, what a surprise.

In ten years time we'll make this legal here but the cat food and sardines will be laced with silica and cost thirty times what they should, if the vmd discover people using unlaced product they'll be imprisoned and tortured.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Interesting the control methods that this thread has brought up...if this method works on Asian Hornets as well as Wasps it could be a good time to buy shares in Kitekat.

 

[Beefriendly]

Interesting the control methods that this thread has brought up...if this method works on Asian Hornets as well as Wasps it could be a good time to buy shares in Kitekat.

Or a sardine trawler....assuming the catch quotas can cope with the extra demand.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Interesting the control methods that this thread has brought up...if this method works on Asian Hornets as well as Wasps it could be a good time to buy shares in Kitekat.

What a thought

 

[Brian Bush]

And highly irresponsible. Thought you were better than this Hivemaker!

There are lots of non target species that'll take kitty-kat. Please anyone reading this, don't do this - it's irresponsible and ecologically insensitive.

 

[Fritillary]

If hornets are anything like cats, they will home in on one variety of catfood and spurn all others. If only future trap bait could be precisely tailored to one kind of hornet!

 

[Brian Bush]

Brian I think we will have to agree to disagree. With no evidence of colonisation I think it is foolhardy to deploy spring trapping.

Agree to disagree? I am not that sure that your views Karol are that far from mine.
I have a major concern that no-one will be able to provide an explanation as to how a colony managed to develop in Gloucestershire. People will speculate that it was a rogue queen brought in by accident. My fear is that we may already have established a breeding population of more than one colony that has not been found by a sensible beekeeper. Or, they may have been spotted by one of our 'under the radar' colleagues who have not reported it to the authorities and taken their own 'kit-e-kat' style action with unknown outcomes.
My reasoning behind calling for trapping next Spring is to establish that this was the only colony and the UK is once again free of this pest. I am trading off my conscience about harming native species on this one occasion by my belief, based on the NBIs talk that Asian Hornets will predate upon and severely diminish all other native species and honey bees as well.
I am trying to get a balanced plan in my mind. My concern is for all species who will suffer if the Asian Hornet becomes established.
As for those members who do not register on BeeBase I believe their actions to be misguided and selfish. What have they got to hide? You have every right to say no to a honey sample being taken for the VMD to test. Just as you can refuse entry to the Bee Inspectorate to your hives unless they have reason to suspect you have not reported a notifiable disease.
They in turn will notify you of foul brood outbreaks and have the powers to place a standstill order upon your apiaries if they are within the zone. How many of you will feel happy if an 'underground' beekeeper moved infected hives close to you? Your minor acts of defiance may make you feel good and important but you are prepared to potentially inflict problems on others just to boost your own egos.

 

[Karol]

I guess I don't share in the same logic as you do Brian. Setting spring traps all over the UK just to see if we have a problem doesn't make sense to me. My perception is that the sentinel function that beekeepers perform is sufficiently comprehensive geographically (and I'm only referring to those registered with bee base) to detect the presence of ANY velutina. I also don't think velutina will establish itself in the UK simply because we don't have the volume of insects that it needs to sustain itself. There's a reason why crabro only has nest sizes of 300 to 400 workers and there's a reason why it's a relatively sparse insect with little incidence above Birmingham. Provided beekeepers remain vigilant I don't see the need to take drastic measures such as spring trapping. I believe that all that is required is a reactive policy to mop up landfalls when they occur as they are detected.

 

[Beefriendly]

If I may add a tuppenny worth. Currently we don't know the state of play.
Sit down, relax, and "Don't Panic".
Yet

 

[dpearce4]

Well they have my honey sample. If I am persecuted I'll blame all forum members as I cannot be at fault - ever..

Still waiting for my results from when they did my honey sample back in mid august.

pretty crap if you ask me!!!

 

[Hivemaker.]

"Don't Panic".

Sardine share prices just rose £30%

 

[dpearce4]

Agree to disagree? I am not that sure that your views Karol are that far from mine.
I have a major concern that no-one will be able to provide an explanation as to how a colony managed to develop in Gloucestershire. People will speculate that it was a rogue queen brought in by accident. My fear is that we may already have established a breeding population of more than one colony that has not been found by a sensible beekeeper. Or, they may have been spotted by one of our 'under the radar' colleagues who have not reported it to the authorities and taken their own 'kit-e-kat' style action with unknown outcomes.
My reasoning behind calling for trapping next Spring is to establish that this was the only colony and the UK is once again free of this pest. I am trading off my conscience about harming native species on this one occasion by my belief, based on the NBIs talk that Asian Hornets will predate upon and severely diminish all other native species and honey bees as well.
I am trying to get a balanced plan in my mind. My concern is for all species who will suffer if the Asian Hornet becomes established.
As for those members who do not register on BeeBase I believe their actions to be misguided and selfish. What have they got to hide? You have every right to say no to a honey sample being taken for the VMD to test. Just as you can refuse entry to the Bee Inspectorate to your hives unless they have reason to suspect you have not reported a notifiable disease.
They in turn will notify you of foul brood outbreaks and have the powers to place a standstill order upon your apiaries if they are within the zone. How many of you will feel happy if an 'underground' beekeeper moved infected hives close to you? Your minor acts of defiance may make you feel good and important but you are prepared to potentially inflict problems on others just to boost your own egos.

I hate to say it no you don't have the right to. As they are a food producing animal the VMD are legally allowed access to them to test for banned substances. Even if you don't let them on site they will be able to go and purchase your honey from a retailer and test, this is already done by Trading standards on their behalf and have done for well over 10 years as I had samples purchased of all honeys I sold in my shop one time. They bought 3 jars of all styles and bagged them in evidence bags. They took 2, 1 to test and one spare, and one was then given to me to keep so I could have it tested independently if I didn't agree with the test results.

This is what can happen if your a retailer that is found to stock fake honey.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9787746.Worthing_shop_stung_by_fake_honey_fine/

Not me by the way, but just to show u what they can do.

 

[Pete D]

Still waiting for my results from when they did my honey sample back in mid august.

pretty crap if you ask me!!!

Results
All results are sent to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) where the information is recorded on an in-house database. If the sample is found to have no contaminants in then a letter will be sent out to you by the VMD confirming the results. This process will usually take about three months of the sample being taken and any enquiries should be directed to the VMD because the NBU are unable to access any results.

 

[dpearce4]

Results
All results are sent to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) where the information is recorded on an in-house database. If the sample is found to have no contaminants in then a letter will be sent out to you by the VMD confirming the results. This process will usually take about three months of the sample being taken and any enquiries should be directed to the VMD because the NBU are unable to access any results.

Thanks for that info Pete. Shame I wasn't told that by the bee inspector or the VMD staff that were onsite to.

 

[Pete D]

Thanks for that info Pete. Shame I wasn't told that by the bee inspector or the VMD staff that were onsite to.

No problem, its just an extract off of beebase from the honey sampling section.

They sample for all manner of things, it tells you on the unopened sampling kit what that particular sample is being checked for. Last one I had was being checked for 'Metals'.

 

[kazmcc]

I very much doubt that they have colonized elsewhere in the country, although I may be wrong, but I think that they would have been spotted sooner and verified judging by the thousands of amateur biological recorders spanning the country. The groups I am in on facebook are growing by the day. If they had crossed the channel and moved North we would definitely have seen them.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If they had crossed the channel and moved North we would definitely have seen them.

But who in their right mind would want to move North!?

 

[Hivemaker.]

But who in their right mind would want to move North!?

More likely to be south, south of Bristol.