Asian hornets

[charlievictorbravo]

Your concerns are unfounded.

The formulation has a very short shelf life and has to be used immediately that it's prepared. After a few hours the fipronil goes off and no longer works.

The second reason is that the method is far less environmentally hazardous than currently approved vespine nest treatments. A wasp nest treated with ficam will see circa 200 to 300 wasps disperse ficam randomly across several hundred sq meters with the nest remaining a repository of active pesticide. (Poisoned wasps leave the nest as a defence mechanism to try to protect the rest of the colony). But no one questions direct nest treatment with ficam! Mazzamazda's method sees a small handful of hornets deliver a magic bullet of a very small amount of short acting pesticide to the nest which because of the method of application acts as a trophallaxis trojan that doesn't immediately kill the vector but does ensure a high probability of the queen being directly fed a lethal dose thereby terminating the nest before sexual progeny are produced, i.e. eradicating the species in a highly sophisticated and targetted way.

Whether or not the old nests are toxic bombs is a moot point - the chances of this method being given official approval in the UK are remote. I can almost see the wording of the NBU notice refusing to approve the method - "an inappropriate use of an approved veterinary medicine"

CVB

 

[Karol]

Whether or not the old nests are toxic bombs is a moot point - the chances of this method being given official approval in the UK are remote. I can almost see the wording of the NBU notice refusing to approve the method - "an inappropriate use of an approved veterinary medicine"

CVB

The moot point is that VV is not in the UK and that the method doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of VMD.

As to what happens in the future with respect to the appropriate regulatory statutes governing the use of fipronil for off label pesticide use I guess that depends on what political pressure develops as a consequence of VV infestation in the infested territory. As far as I'm aware, pesticide controls only apply to professional service providers.

 

[victor meldrew]

The moot point is that VV is not in the UK and that the method doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of VMD.



As to what happens in the future with respect to the appropriate regulatory statutes governing the use of fipronil for off label pesticide use I guess that depends on what political pressure develops as a consequence of VV infestation in the infested territory. As far as I'm aware, pesticide controls only apply to professional service providers.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...ster-news/asian-hornets-in-uk-hornet-14868878


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[mazzamazda]

Thanks Karol, your professional guidance was key to success.

All I can say is this year is a dream. I have done no trapping and have seen a grand total of about 20 hornets in all my apiaries, in fact they are a pain to catch and treat because I really need about 10 to see the difference. I have 1 nest compared to previous years with so many nests and I remember 2016 when I caught hundreds in a few hours. I am no longer worried about VV.

I have spotted so many other pollinators, butterflies and moths not previously seen.

Other beekeepers have reported many hornets, some have invested up to €1000 on an electric harpoon system to protect their hives. I'm still on last years €15 bottle of fipronil.

I understand the concerns but after seeing the amount of pesticide sprayed into a nest once found by the authorities, I guess one nest that I treat might get one drop of Fipronil.

 

[Karol]

Mazzamazda's method I think uses a sweet egg and sugar syrup custard laced with Fipronil insecticide. The hornets are stunned or caught in a net and have their abdomen painted with the custard, then released. On returning to their nest, the other hornets clean them up, thus the Fipronil is introduced into the nest, which eventually dies.

snip

CVB

Mazzamazda has kindly provided details of his method:

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=641398&postcount=48

Just to be clear it is imperative that the top of the thorax is painted and not the abdomen. Two reasons: Firstly it's much harder for the hornet to preen itself and ingest a quick acting dose of fipronil meaning that it will get back to its nest before it succumbs and secondly, there is less risk of fipronil entering the hornet's respiratory system via spiracles located on the abdomen.