Asian hornets in the UK. A chance of stopping them?

[Chiangmai member]

https://phys.org/news/2017-10-luring-hornets-scientists-sex-pheromone.html

Lets hope that this pheromone becomes available at a reasonable price, very soon.

 

[Webby]

Should be given out free.

 

[mazzamazda]

I have the method and recipe worked out. I have no VV left so it works. Thanks to a certain someone on here for the help.

Here is the tried and tested method for a kill of around 3-6 hours, the mix goes off after 6 hours.


50g sugar
15ml hot water
1 egg yolk
Frontline (Fipronil) 0.25% w/v fipronil

Mix sugar into hot water, then slowly add water to egg yolk and mix well.

Add 1tsp of mixture to a small receptacle add 10 drops of Frontline (Fipronil) and stir well. Mixture is effective for 6 hours.

Catch Asian hornet with an Executioner Pro, Apply custard to Asian hornet thorax and release. Hornet will come round after a few minutes and fly back to the nest 3-6 hours the hornet dies, depends on how many other hornets it feeds. Ideal if you can catch 5-10 hornets, I have had major success in eliminating all my VV and retaining all native pollinators.

 

[Karol]

Very very well done Mazzamazda.

The use of traps is a nonsense both in terms of monitoring and in terms of control.

Sex pheromone traps have been around for yonks and have severe limitations not least short shelf life and resistance.

Use of tracking devices is a good idea to contain isolated outbreaks such as in the UK but very resource intensive and not sustainable in large infestations.

What you have Mazzamazda is the magic bullet. If beeks in infested areas take heed to your method VV could be wiped out in short order with practically no collateral damage.

And for any who may be reading this from the NBU who frown upon using pesticide in this way for fear of affecting non target species then their fears are ungrounded. Current nest eradication techniques using pesticide applications dwarf your method into insignificance in terms of non target species risk.

 

[coffindodger]

I have the method and recipe worked out. I have no VV left so it works. Thanks to a certain someone on here for the help.

Here is the tried and tested method for a kill of around 3-6 hours, the mix goes off after 6 hours.


50g sugar
15ml hot water
1 egg yolk
Frontline (Fipronil) 0.25% w/v fipronil

Mix sugar into hot water, then slowly add water to egg yolk and mix well.

Add 1tsp of mixture to a small receptacle add 10 drops of Frontline (Fipronil) and stir well. Mixture is effective for 6 hours.

Catch Asian hornet with an Executioner Pro, Apply custard to Asian hornet thorax and release. Hornet will come round after a few minutes and fly back to the nest 3-6 hours the hornet dies, depends on how many other hornets it feeds. Ideal if you can catch 5-10 hornets, I have had major success in eliminating all my VV and retaining all native pollinators.

Could this be made into a 'sticky'?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Could this be made into a 'sticky'?

I’ve copied it into my beekeepers diary and onto Facebook.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have the method and recipe worked out. I have no VV left so it works. Thanks to a certain someone on here for the help.

Here is the tried and tested method for a kill of around 3-6 hours, the mix goes off after 6 hours.


50g sugar
15ml hot water
1 egg yolk
Frontline (Fipronil) 0.25% w/v fipronil

Mix sugar into hot water, then slowly add water to egg yolk and mix well.

Add 1tsp of mixture to a small receptacle add 10 drops of Frontline (Fipronil) and stir well. Mixture is effective for 6 hours.

Catch Asian hornet with an Executioner Pro, Apply custard to Asian hornet thorax and release. Hornet will come round after a few minutes and fly back to the nest 3-6 hours the hornet dies, depends on how many other hornets it feeds. Ideal if you can catch 5-10 hornets, I have had major success in eliminating all my VV and retaining all native pollinators.

Brilliant thanks
You both deserve a medal for persistence and ingenuity

 

[Millet]

Can you still get decent Frontline in the UK.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Can you still get decent Frontline in the UK.

Yes

 

[domino]

Maybe Bayer could develop a hornet gate for a trap that paints stuff like this, rather than the bee gate thing?

 

[isc26]

The EU licence for Fipronil expired on 30.9.17, it is no longer registered for use

 

[Erichalfbee]

The EU licence for Fipronil expired on 30.9.17, it is no longer registered for use

I’ve just found frontline at Petsathome so stil available

 

[Hivemaker.]

The EU licence for Fipronil expired on 30.9.17, it is no longer registered for use

Wonder if this is up to date....

In the UK, provisional approval for five years has been granted for fipronil use as a public hygiene insecticide.[3]
Fipronil is the main active ingredient of Frontline TopSpot, Fiproguard, Flevox, and PetArmor (used along with S-methoprene in the 'Plus' versions of these products); these treatments are used in fighting tick and flea infestations in dogs and cats.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fipronil

I’ve just found frontline at Petsathome so stil available

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8...vtargid=kwd-6745391403&ref=pd_sl_5n325u2a8n_b

https://www.google.co.uk/search?cli...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.4.338...0i67k1.0.gdYlRAdvOYU

 

[mazzamazda]

Thanks for the comments.

It was just out of absolute helpless desperation losing so many bees. I did have some moments during some of the experiments, but it all worked out with my professional assistant.

The main difference in this recipe to what we were doing previously is we were applying full strength Fipronil directly to the hornet, with an LD50 of 0.000000024g hardly any were making it back to the nest, last year I remember catching and releasing hundreds of VV. Then relying on the treated hornet to bump into other hornets in the nest. This way the hornet is surviving 3-6 hours, instead of minutes, flying directly to the nest and other hornets feeding from the mix and hopefully feeding other hornets, the young and the queen. The risk is reduced, the workload is reduced and the result is brilliant. I still have a few stragglers but they are very difficult to catch, I usually just trap them.

Fipronil is readily available in Portugal. It costs around £15 for 250ml. We are possibly going to experiment with other products anyway as shelf life of the Fipronil mix is short. Will have to be next year now as I dont have anything to experiment on. Great problem to have.

Chiangmai member, it would be great if you can try it out and give me feedback, I can send you some Fipronil from here, if its allowed and you cant get it locally.

I do have a few small additions to make to the recipe which I will do in due course.

 

[Roola]

I have the method and recipe worked out. I have no VV left so it works. Thanks to a certain someone on here for the help.

Here is the tried and tested method for a kill of around 3-6 hours, the mix goes off after 6 hours.


50g sugar
15ml hot water
1 egg yolk
Frontline (Fipronil) 0.25% w/v fipronil

Mix sugar into hot water, then slowly add water to egg yolk and mix well.

Add 1tsp of mixture to a small receptacle add 10 drops of Frontline (Fipronil) and stir well. Mixture is effective for 6 hours.

Catch Asian hornet with an Executioner Pro, Apply custard to Asian hornet thorax and release. Hornet will come round after a few minutes and fly back to the nest 3-6 hours the hornet dies, depends on how many other hornets it feeds. Ideal if you can catch 5-10 hornets, I have had major success in eliminating all my VV and retaining all native pollinators.

so the executioner pro doesn't kill the hornet?

 

[mazzamazda]

so the executioner pro doesn't kill the hornet?

It would eventually, you are talking about 2 minutes constant shocking. It is just to get them to grab the rail to allow you to grab them by the wing. They are a very resilient insect. When I shock them I usually just give them 3-4 presses and they are very much alive. You can shock for longer, reduces the chance of a sting but takes longer for them to come round.

I tried to upload a video but the security token was missing

 

[Chiangmai member]

[Hi Mazzamada,

I will definitely try this out next year, (the hornets are winding down now here in northern Thailand). It makes a lot of sense. We have had no measurable success with poison-&-release this year or last, but we weren't using food attractants in the paste, and poisoned hornets were only living around 15 mins. So your method sounds a much better approach. Your ideas have already been circulated on the Thai bee keepers association group chat, so I would expect several people to be trying this out next year. Looking forward to hearing about the additions to the mix.

This year, we also tried French style museliere (muzzles) that fit over the bee entrance and seem to have had some success with reducing predation by using two vertical screens of single wire, at 3cm and 2cm spacings. The two screens were placed 10cm apart. The idea being that whilst the bees could easily fly through the outer screen, (3cm) and negotiate the second screen (2cm) fairly quickly, the hornets do not like to enter the first chamber, and very rarely enter the inner chamber. This seems to reduce pressure/stress at the hive entrance. As a result we have managed to maintain colony strength through the wet season.

Thanks again to Mazzamada for sharing his information.

 

[domino]

I tried to upload a video but the security token was missing

Could you put it on youtube?

 

[mazzamazda]

[Hi Mazzamada,

I will definitely try this out next year, (the hornets are winding down now here in northern Thailand). It makes a lot of sense. We have had no measurable success with poison-&-release this year or last, but we weren't using food attractants in the paste, and poisoned hornets were only living around 15 mins. So your method sounds a much better approach. Your ideas have already been circulated on the Thai bee keepers association group chat, so I would expect several people to be trying this out next year. Looking forward to hearing about the additions to the mix.

This year, we also tried French style museliere (muzzles) that fit over the bee entrance and seem to have had some success with reducing predation by using two vertical screens of single wire, at 3cm and 2cm spacings. The two screens were placed 10cm apart. The idea being that whilst the bees could easily fly through the outer screen, (3cm) and negotiate the second screen (2cm) fairly quickly, the hornets do not like to enter the first chamber, and very rarely enter the inner chamber. This seems to reduce pressure/stress at the hive entrance. As a result we have managed to maintain colony strength through the wet season.

Thanks again to Mazzamada for sharing his information.

Yes, that is exactly the problem with using the poison neat, hornet dies too early and doesnt pass on the poison before it dies.

Brilliant, the more people who know the better, it is so cheap and effective. Do you not try attaching a feather to locate the nest? I'm sure I saw that in a video from Thailand.

The additions are really just clarifications for the custard to make sure it doesnt curdle and you get a thick paste to add the Fipronill as it dilutes it a little. Was it Fipronil you were using?

Im pleased you have managed some success with the muzzles and have got your bees through. If Northern Thailand wasnt so difficult to get to I would come and help you next year, I love Thailand. How many hornets on average per hive do you have at one time?

 

[mazzamazda]

Could you put it on youtube?

Very good point, I have a video from last year when I was catching and releasing with full strength Frontline. Terrible video but you get the idea how I catch them and how the executioner just really holds them long enough to hold the wing. After taking a few stings I now tend to shock them more than did then and it is easier to apply the custard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDf6apHpW_4