Asian Hornets

[Murox]

That made me think about the size differences, don't see many hornets at all where I am. I found the attached on the web courtesy of Isle of Wight - Asian Hornet Watch.

 

[RichardK]

That made me think about the size differences, don't see many hornets at all where I am.

I haven't see many European Hornets my way this year - a dozen maybe. They're impressively big! I also noticed that they're really not a threat to my hives as in spite of hanging around trying to catch a free meal, they're not gifted flyers compared to the Asian Hornets. This season, on a good / bad day, I've trapped 40 Asian Hornets.

Long may you go without encountering them in your neck of the woods.

 

[Will Kevans]

I haven't see many European Hornets my way this year - a dozen maybe. They're impressively big! I also noticed that they're really not a threat to my hives as in spite of hanging around trying to catch a free meal, they're not gifted flyers compared to the Asian Hornets. This season, on a good / bad day, I've trapped 40 Asian Hornets.

Long may you go without encountering them in your neck of the woods.

Hi Richard do you know what the optimum height aperture should be for bees ? Im guessing about 5mm? Im wondering if this will keep out the Asian Hornets?I'm worried it will trap the drones however.

 

[RichardK]

As I understand it only young (hence smaller) Asian Hornets can get through a gap of 5.5/6mm. I've personally not yet seen it happen. At 5mm I'd have thought you'd be safe but I can't say for certain. Yes it will trap drones. Everybody says they will be kicked out of the hive any time soon but I don't know....a guy not far from me had them at Christmas time last year! Anyhow, it's the price for stopping hornet intrusions. I suspect the hornets will be gone in a couple of weeks and then you can increase the space to let drones freely move around.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi Richard do you know what the optimum height aperture should be for bees ? Im guessing about 5mm? Im wondering if this will keep out the Asian Hornets?I'm worried it will trap the drones however.

Asian hornets hawk at the entrance surely? By the time they are invading the hive the colony is knackered

 

[RichardK]

Asian hornets hawk at the entrance surely? By the time they are invading the hive the colony is knackered

In general absolutely. But you do get the occasional one going in. I've noticed as the season has progressed they've also progressed from hovering in front to increasingly landing and the odd one entering. Maybe they're testing it out to see how strong it is? If you get several going in simultaneously I imagine it's safe to say the colony is doomed. I've recovered a few dead Asian hornets from inside the hives over the last month.

 

[Will Kevans]

Asian hornets hawk at the entrance surely? By the time they are invading the hive the colony is knackered

I,m not sure that is the case Dani. My bees seem very active the hornets are opportunists and the beer and grenadine seems to have been very effective in culling them.I've also seen my bees kicking dead hornets out of the hive.

 

[Will Kevans]

In general absolutely. But you do get the occasional one going in. I've noticed as the season has progressed they've also progressed from hovering in front to increasingly landing and the odd one entering. Maybe they're testing it out to see how strong it is? If you get several going in simultaneously I imagine it's safe to say the colony is doomed. I've recovered a few dead Asian hornets from inside the hives over the last month.

Im really hoping this is not the case. Ive seen the behaviour of my bees change over the past few weeks, but I've put this down to the change in the weather. Short of camping outside the entrance of the hive Ive been very vigilant with the hornets so Im praying they survive. I need to have a look inside the hive I guess if we have a freakish warm day. Ill try and see whats going on.

 

[RichardK]

If you've changed the entrance and put a couple of traps out by the hive there's nothing else you can do. Either they're OK or they're not (they probably are...). Are there bees coming and going when the sun shines?

 

[Will Kevans]

If you've changed the entrance and put a couple of traps out by the hive there's nothing else you can do. Either they're OK or they're not (they probably are...). Are there bees coming and going when the sun shines?

Yes they're normally active when the sun comes out and Ive banged the hive a few times and they react in defence.

 

[Ian123]

Hi Will when was the last time hive was inspected? Why not crack the crown board and look.

 

[Will Kevans]

Hi Will when was the last time hive was inspected? Why not crack the crown board and look.

I've been thinking that, I want to wait for a sunny day. The first time I looked in the hive was on the 23rd October. The frames looked very healthy and full of honey even though I only got the bees in late April.Not being an expert the experience was quite overwhelming the bees where quite active and I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to be looking for. I was surprised at the ferocity of them and also the number of them.

 

[user 819]

If by ferocity one means defensive then any V.v that does enter may well be in for a surprise that or the bees are already well forewarned and prepared.

 

[Will Kevans]

They have despatched a hornet I saw them drag a dead one out of the hive.My bees are fierce. I used smoke on them when I opened the hive and they were certainly not docile.

 

[RichardBeeW]

I fitted a sliding plastic gate that reduces the aperture size of the zinc plate openings. I made it from a transparent takeaway box lid and it slides between the hive face and the zinc entrance plate.Ive taken it down to about 5 mm hopefully this will stop hornets gaining access.Ill take a photo of it tomorrow and post it.I also replaced my top syrup feeder with a candy board and lagged the top of the hive with an old wool jumper. Hopefully the polystyrene lagging and this will keep them toasty over the winter. We had the first frosts today and its getting a bit nippy.

I have no idea if this idea is relevant (it's quite commonly used in the UK) and is simply a piece of trunking for electrical wiring cut to a suitable length with a hole drilled into the back-plate to fix over the hive entrance and the front-plate cut into two with ventilation holes to continue to attract the problem insects there even when it's closed. If you look to the left side of the photo you'll see I've cut fillets of wood to slide into the ends, leaving only the adjustable main entrance usable. However, maybe in the case of hornet attack the front door could be closed and one fillet at a time removed. Your bees will soon reorientate but it might confuse the hornets a little plus, and I'm only conjecturing, the hornets, being bigger, might find crawling down the tunnel with a right angle turn at the entrance a bit unnerving to say the least. As I say, no idea if this will help at all but it does enable you to completely and easily close the entrance if the attack becomes especially overwhelming. Not perfect but it seems nothing is - except my wife (I think she reads these comments occasionally).