Asian Hornet - Update

[Millet]

They must have been here for a good length of time to build a nest like that and i would put money on it that is not the only nest.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Great post @Brian Bush.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mazzamazda]

They must have been here for a good length of time to build a nest like that and i would put money on it that is not the only nest.

I honestly think that would be a few weeks work, they must have eaten a good few pollinators though. Nests here appear so quick its unreal. The beekeepers would spot them straight away too.

There are no more sightings of hornets and the NBU confirm they were not fighting so I think they got it.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I am particularly interested in the stun and dose with insecticide solution but fear that the said insecticide will not be available without the VMA interfering. Some supplier will be out to make a killing and other snake oil salesmen will be peddling their wares at next year's sales and conventions.
Where do we acquire the insecticide and what is its name in the UK?
.

Frontline SPRAY from your vet. Also available as a spot on but this is too powerful. Used for flea control.

 

[kevrhcfag]

It's all well and good back-slapping at this stage but; the only way to keep them out is to find out how they got here in the first place.

In order to achieve resolution to a problem you always need to establish root cause. Why Tetbury? Why September??? Why? Why? . .

Then put in place robust measures to prevent recurrence.

That is simply never going to happen, it has always been a case of when not if.

 

[mazzamazda]

Can Richard and our other European members compile a list of the precautions we should take from next year. Followed by a list of the actions we should take if the worst happens
.I think we should all have wasp traps next Spring. What is the most successful bait?
I am particularly interested in the stun and dose with insecticide solution but fear that the said insecticide will not be available without the VMA interfering. Some supplier will be out to make a killing and other snake oil salesmen will be peddling their wares at next year's sales and conventions.
Where do we acquire the insecticide and what is its name in the UK?
Do the fleabay electronic badminton racquets work on Asian Hornets or do we need something more powerful?
SWMBO asks whether I will be required to sit in an apiary everyday from dawn to dusk? She has a gleam in her eye!!!!

This thread has been one of the best reasons for belonging to this forum for a long time. It has engendered a real sense of community. Can we all try and maintain this spirit, respect of others views, with gentle banter, a healthy 'disrespect' for officialdom, and praise when it is due.

Richard is best to talk about traps etc he is very successful at preventing nests. The after the horse has bolted treating is my department!

I use a Executioner Pro http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Executioner-PRO-Wasp-Bug-Zapper-Insect-Fly-Swatter-/310229277384?hash=item483b1b1ac8:g4QAAOSwrmdTqU8e

This gives the hornet a proper shock, a crack can be heard on contact, It really needs to be a good quality one, the normal executioner is ok but sometimes they get away, an angry hornet flying around your head isnt that great. Ill try and get a video of that process.

The product with Fiprinol is https://www.amazon.co.uk/Frontline-vet-Spray-250-ml/dp/B003XUC3YU/ref=sr_1_13/256-6439353-2231507?ie=UTF8&qid=1475321522&sr=8-13&keywords=frontline+flea+and+tick

Its just a tick and flea spray for dogs, widely available, dont go ANYWHERE near your hives with it though. Here is a video of the post zapping but treating the hornet and release.

https://youtu.be/P6orzxxWSa8

It does look like it falls to the ground but it takes off about 2 ft before it hits the ground. I treat as many of the hornets as possible they go back to the nest and 48hrs later, no more hornets from that nest anyway, just one more thing WEAR GLOVES! The product is nasty, the hornets are nastier.

This really is a desperation treatment, Richards prevention is far better but great to know something works after my bees suffering for the last 3 years.

 

[madasafish]

I doubt it! Although a good result I think luck played a very big part, when I spoke to them on Wednesday morning they sounded desperate. Their only course of action seemed to be locating the nest, that is a lot of eggs in one basket, you cannot rely on finding a nest when this insect is an expert in concealment.

They called yesterday to say they are looking into some other options including Fiprinol.

http://www.moraybeedinosaurs.co.uk/neonicotinoid/fipronil.pdf is worth reading about Fiprinol...

 

[mazzamazda]

http://www.moraybeedinosaurs.co.uk/neonicotinoid/fipronil.pdf is worth reading about Fiprinol...

It is horrible stuff. If you need evidence it works though, I went out to try and film the electrocution process on a hornet to show how I stun it, I havent found a single hornet in 30 mins! 2 weeks ago this place was crawling with them, even coming in the house.

 

[Plenty of honey]

Can Richard and our other European members compile a list of the precautions we should take from next year. Followed by a list of the actions we should take if the worst happens
.I think we should all have wasp traps next Spring. What is the most successful bait?
I am particularly interested in the stun and dose with insecticide solution but fear that the said insecticide will not be available without the VMA interfering. Some supplier will be out to make a killing and other snake oil salesmen will be peddling their wares at next year's sales and conventions.
Where do we acquire the insecticide and what is its name in the UK?
Do the fleabay electronic badminton racquets work on Asian Hornets or do we need something more powerful?
SWMBO asks whether I will be required to sit in an apiary everyday from dawn to dusk? She has a gleam in her eye!!!!

This thread has been one of the best reasons for belonging to this forum for a long time. It has engendered a real sense of community. Can we all try and maintain this spirit, respect of others views, with gentle banter, a healthy 'disrespect' for officialdom, and praise when it is due.

Delighted to help out and put together a document if it helps. I have already contacted Mazzamazda to talk about the best way to do this i would like his content definitely included.
One thing we must be care full of is the Vespa Crabbo, Common Hornet.
At this stage its not really a good idea for every beekeeper in the entire country, reeling in the recent destruction of said Asian Hornets nest, to start putting out high numbers of non selective hornet traps even though Common hornets do take our bees in largish numbers at times, we must be wary to this but also realise that common hornets, like wasps to control many unwanted pest insects. We must try to maintain a good balance, as beekeepers it is certainly our responsibility and moral duty.
We will put together a post (Brian Bush ) to try offer advice on some of own personal experiences of spring Trapping and summer options. I am certainly Not an expert.
I know the firponil option isn't everybody's favourite mode of action, but its is very very target specific, common hornets would and are not targeted at all.
Thanks also Brian Bush for your kind comments!!

 

[Karol]

Please, please, please do not put out wasp traps in spring - and that's coming from a wasp trap salesman.

In the absence of evidence of successful colonisation the deployment of wasp traps in spring is the road to an ecological disaster. Not only will it cause unintended consequences such as the increase in the use of pesticides to combat the eruption of insect pests that will follow the collapse of wasp populations, it will also open the door to whatever queen hornets might have survived to prosper simply because hornets will be competing with other wasp species for insect prey. Remove those wasps and you'll create more favourable conditions for hornets to succeed in. I've seen a paper somewhere where the use of spring traps made very little difference to the problem when tried in France.

The strategy put forward by plenty of honey and mazzamazda of capture and treatment with fipronil is absolutely brilliant and the right way to go simply because it is so surgical. If that technique is followed then I'm sure that velutina could quite rapidly be eradicated from Europe. However, it should never, never be used on native species of wasps - in fact I would go so far as to say treating native species in this way should be made illegal.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I've seen a paper somewhere where the use of spring traps made very little difference to the problem when tried in France.

Catching hundreds of queen Asian Hornets in spring sounds like it has made a difference in the part of France where Richard is based... would there of been less Asian Hornet nests and therefore less of a problem for his bees if he had not killed those queens in spring?

 

[mazzamazda]

Catching hundreds of queen Asian Hornets in spring sounds like it has made a difference in the part of France where Richard is based... would there of been less Asian Hornet nests and therefore less of a problem for his bees if he had not killed those queens in spring?

I think that is the difference between France and Portugal. In France they spring trap Asian Hornets, In Portugal they dont. France seem to have their Asian hornet situation in some control, in Portugal it isnt.

That said I dont know what is happening to the wasps and european hornets in France.

 

[Plenty of honey]

Catching hundreds of queen Asian Hornets in spring sounds like it has made a difference in the part of France where Richard is based... would there of been less Asian Hornet nests and therefore less of a problem for his bees if he had not killed those queens in spring?

I have no doubt that if i had not trapped emerging spring queens, then the problem would hugely worse around my apiaries.
Speaking to other beekeepers who didn't trap emerging spring queens last year most had a terrible problem, a high presence in front of their hives, permanently.


I only know this because i had phone calls late in the summer last season asking me "how could i reduce the permanent numbers" i then asked, "did you trap in the spring" and their answer was, "no, was i supposed to be putting out traps"
I have also no doubt that it will never get rid of them all. Unfortunately were stuck with them and i have to do something.

So here lies the dilemma. if you dont trap in an area known to be highly infested, then later in the season you can expect a high number of nests per square mile/kilometer.
If you do trap, you can expect less, so much less that in fact, we havent had the numbers to make the effort of "trapping, treat and release tactics" outline and demonstrated by MazzaMazda, a worthwhile exercise.

I will also add that when i trap, i am very wary of trying not to trap the Common hornet, but some do end up in trap.

We have a very high population of the common hornet in the whole of France, so i dont think that trapping a few, but massively reducing the spring population of Asian hornets, does have any real impact on the overall population of the Common hornet.
I cannot comment on what impact this will have on the uk population of common hornet and certainly advise that it would not sensible not to put out traps, ( as i said in my previous post) until there is a permanent presence of Asian Hornet in the uk, which in my mind is likely to occur. Others would disagree.

 

[kazmcc]

Our local press is having a field day - "never let the facts get in the way of a good story".

As an example, read this b*llocks:http://www.westbriton.co.uk/asian-h...ller-insects/story-29749197-detail/story.html

I've never heard Gloucestershire described as the South West and both of the pictures in the piece appear to me to be of the European Hornet - certainly not the Asian Hornet.

I suppose in the absence of real information, conjecture fills the vacuum.

CVB

First picture is V veluntina, second is our native V crabro.

I can't read this stuff. My stress levels are high enough lately. I understand they've found and destroyed a nest but I can't find any information as to what stage that nest was at, whether it has produced any males or queens. Exciting stuff! No?

Just me then

 

[Plenty of honey]

First picture is V veluntina, second is our native V crabro.

I can't read this stuff. My stress levels are high enough lately. I understand they've found and destroyed a nest but I can't find any information as to what stage that nest was at, whether it has produced any males or queens. Exciting stuff! No?

Just me then

yes definitely a Common Hornet next to the 50 pence piece.
This is what made me laugh just underneath the first headline "'Super-fleas' with giant penises are set to invade Cornwall this autumn"

Really!!! Sounds like another major Cock up!

 

[kazmcc]

yes definitely a Common Hornet next to the 50 pence piece.
This is what made me laugh "'Super-fleas' with giant penises are set to invade Cornwall this autumn"

Really!!! Sounds like another major Cock up!

Fleas with giant penises!?!?! Whatever next?!

 

[Karol]

Save that the catch treat and release method is far more likely to prevent nests reaching maturation and therefore prevent queens from ever being released so the need for spring trapping is removed. It is important however that the technique is employed even if numbers of hornets fall to low levels where it becomes an effort. That's when you're most likely to eradicate the problem entirely. As for your colleagues having problems where they've not been spring trapping the catch treat and release method would as mazzamazda has neatly illustrated, quickly bring their problem under control.

 

[MuswellMetro]

I'm pretty confident there is only one nest after speaking to them yesterday, hornets from different nests fight, there was no fighting. Whether it has released queens is the major concern, its around Oct/Nov here so it must be tight for the UK, its a sizeable nest so who knows. Does anyone know what the weather been like in Tetbury the last few weeks?

SCREEN SHOT OF WEATHER FOR SEPTEMBER, ALL AROUND 20C

so at what temperature do the queens issue inFrance

 

[mazzamazda]

SCREEN SHOT OF WEATHER FOR SEPTEMBER, ALL AROUND 20C

so at what temperature do the queens issue inFrance

Thank you, good news I would think, in my experience they tend to carry on catching bees whilst they are feeding young, they were still catching bees in Tetbury. When the colder weather comes, in Portugal around 15-16 they tend to go for sweet, that can be late October/November/December. That is when I understand they release their queens. I can sometimes catch the queens heading for old hives I have, under roofs etc. It would be worth in the Tetbury area having a look in outbuildings, hives anywhere with shelter for queens, just like wasp queens do. It will probably be the first indicator to whether the nest released any queens, unless of course the NBU have news of the remains of the nest.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

First picture is V veluntina, second is our native V crabro.

I can't read this stuff. My stress levels are high enough lately. I understand they've found and destroyed a nest but I can't find any information as to what stage that nest was at, whether it has produced any males or queens. Exciting stuff! No?

Just me then

I sent an email to the NBU on 26 September as follows:
Since your press announcement last week, we beekeepers have heard nothing more. In the absence of hard facts, conjecture and rumour fill the void. Would you consider putting a daily bulletin on your website to avoid such speculation, please - just a few lines to let beekeepers and others know that you're on top of the problem.

As an example of the poor reporting in the press of this incident, I attach below a link to a nonsense report in my local Cornish paper. From what I can determine, neither of the photos in the report is of an Asian Hornet: (link followed)

Next time I checked on the West Briton story, the following day, the first photo had been changed to that of the Asian Hornet so maybe the NBU contacted the paper and told them the error of their ways.

CVB