Asian Hornets...

[Brian Bush]

I contacted the telegraph yesterday about their incorrect photo. They got back to me saying thay had changed the photo in the on-line edition and asked me to confirm it was indeedVV. This I did and sent them a copy of the NNSS identification chart. They thanked me and said they would ensure the relevent staff viewed it. I thought this was a good result. I will have ot check today to see if they have posted a correction in the paper.

 

[joelsoo]

Sorry @joelsoo
The first line about the beekeeper and the fish was penned to somebody else then abandoned.
It wasn't supposed to be in the post to you. I should proof read.
I've amended it

not a problem, i didn't take it as offence at all.

 

[pargyle]

BBKA social media manager contacted me and said the evening standard want to contact me so asked me if ok to give my number to them. .
said yes, the standard called, interviewed me and asked for a few photos.

Being very much in the front line down here on the South Coast I've been taking an interest in the Asian Hornet since the first one was found in the UK a few years ago .. we appear to have gone through various incarnations of what we (as beekeepers) should actually be doing ... the advice (at present) from the best sources appears to be know what you are looking for, watch out for them, get a photo if you see one and report it.

Just out of interest (and a very rare occurrence) I had a look at what the BBKA has to say and from their section in their website on the hornet there's a 15 minute video about making a (very elaborate) "Monitoring Trap" which, as far as I can ascertain will probably trap every insect species interested in whatever bait you choose to put in there.

I'm a bit disappointed that our National Association appears to have little or no understanding of what is currently required and from what you are saying their social media manager is reliant upon a third party to provide a statement to the press. You would think that they would have a pre-prepared, factual, hard hitting statement with photos that they could distribute to local press wherever and whenever a nest is found ...

You will have to add in the usual BBKA org website address as it's not a website we encourage members to visit.

https://www.bbka.org.uk/faqs/how-to-make-an-asian-hornet-trap
For what it's worth - there is even less information available in the NBU website. Are we being just a bit complacent about educating beekeeper and the public to this growing menace ?

 

[Moobee]

Being very much in the front line down here on the South Coast I've been taking an interest in the Asian Hornet since the first one was found in the UK a few years ago .. we appear to have gone through various incarnations of what we (as beekeepers) should actually be doing ... the advice (at present) from the best sources appears to be know what you are looking for, watch out for them, get a photo if you see one and report it.

Just out of interest (and a very rare occurrence) I had a look at what the BBKA has to say and from their section in their website on the hornet there's a 15 minute video about making a (very elaborate) "Monitoring Trap" which, as far as I can ascertain will probably trap every insect species interested in whatever bait you choose to put in there.

I'm a bit disappointed that our National Association appears to have little or no understanding of what is currently required and from what you are saying their social media manager is reliant upon a third party to provide a statement to the press. You would think that they would have a pre-prepared, factual, hard hitting statement with photos that they could distribute to local press wherever and whenever a nest is found ...

You will have to add in the usual BBKA org website address as it's not a website we encourage members to visit.

https://***************/faqs/how-to-make-an-asian-hornet-trap
For what it's worth - there is even less information available in the NBU website. Are we being just a bit complacent about educating beekeeper and the public to this growing menace ?

I've been hitting social media with lots of info as part of our AHAT team to educate the public as we think the more people know the better. One post I did on a local FB group had over 3,300 hits so at least people are reading and hopefully are aware and will report anything suspicious.

 

[Dekzion]

Just saying,, An Asian hornet was captured in Kent on the 11th March 2024.
Must have overwintered.

 

[North End Bees]

Just saying,, An Asian hornet was captured in Kent on the 11th March 2024.
Must have overwintered.

Might have rather than must have.
It may have overwintered in France and been brought over inadvertently. But yes, it might have overwintered here.
I should think every Beekeeper in Kent is watching their monitoring traps religiously.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Just saying,, An Asian hornet was captured in Kent on the 11th March 2024.
Must have overwintered.

Might have is the word you are looking for.
Possibly blown over from France
Probably hitched a lift over on a ferry or the Eurotunnel.

 

[Karol]

Just saying,, An Asian hornet was captured in Kent on the 11th March 2024.
Must have overwintered.

You know for certain it was a queen?

I haven't seen anything to confirm that to be the case.

If it was a queen then by definition I agree it must have overwintered. But that's not the question. The question is where did it overwinter.

The fact that it was found in a potting shed means very little because a significant amount of horticultural material is imported from across the channel. May equally well have come in in bamboo imported from China via France ready for planting this year's beens.

If it was a worker then it definitely didn't overwinter and this early in the year almost certainly imported rather than home grown.

 

[North End Bees]

Diane Drinkwater stated she 'suspected' it was an overwintered queen but that hasn't been confirmed by NBU

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Diane Drinkwater stated she 'suspected' it was an overwintered queen but that hasn't been confirmed by NBU

It must be true then

 

[user 819]

Diane Drinkwater stated she 'suspected' it was an overwintered queen but that hasn't been confirmed by NBU

BBKA officanado taking a wild stab at that which most will likely be thinking. It is in everyones interest for folks to wait for any NBU official news.

 

[fian]

You know for certain it was a queen?

I haven't seen anything to confirm that to be the case.

If it was a queen then by definition I agree it must have overwintered. But that's not the question. The question is where did it overwinter.

The fact that it was found in a potting shed means very little because a significant amount of horticultural material is imported from across the channel. May equally well have come in in bamboo imported from China via France ready for planting this year's beens.

If it was a worker then it definitely didn't overwinter and this early in the year almost certainly imported rather than home grown.

But we had not agreed that until now the queens of the British nests had been fertilized with a single drone compared to the founding queens of China or Atlantic France, who were fertilized for more than 4. The story of importation does not thus decay.

 

[Karol]

But we had not agreed that until now the queens of the British nests had been fertilized with a single drone compared to the founding queens of China or Atlantic France, who were fertilized for more than 4. The story of importation does not thus decay.

One drone fertilized all the British queens?

I know red bull gives you wings...........

 

[fian]

One drone fertilized all the British queens?

I know red bull gives you wings...........

No, simply due to the low availability of drones (not all nests in the same area reach the point of producing fertile individuals for the next generation) the queen only has genetic material from one source in her spermatheca, and it does not have to be the same for all British queens.
You can try to undermine my argument with British jokes but that doesn't change the fact that there are no numbers to support the import or meteorological thesis. By the way, if the NBU is so sure that these are not hibernating queens, it only has to publish the data, it is its partial obscurantism that contributes to speculation.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

its partial obscurantism

I had that once, but the doctor gave me a cream to put on it and it cleared up in a fortnight

 

[Karol]

No, simply due to the low availability of drones (not all nests in the same area reach the point of producing fertile individuals for the next generation) the queen only has genetic material from one source in her spermatheca, and it does not have to be the same for all British queens.
You can try to undermine my argument with British jokes but that doesn't change the fact that there are no numbers to support the import or meteorological thesis. By the way, if the NBU is so sure that these are not hibernating queens, it only has to publish the data, it is its partial obscurantism that contributes to speculation.

As yet no confirmation as to the presence of diploid males in any of the nests.

 

[JohnRB]

Can anyone advise on a question about what happens when AH appears in your area. We believe the NBU will ask our AHAT team to deploy traps around the area of sightings. Is there an approved trap or monitoring station? Do we provide these or the NBU?

Grateful for any insights.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Can anyone advise on a question about what happens when AH appears in your area. We believe the NBU will ask our AHAT team to deploy traps around the area of sightings. Is there an approved trap or monitoring station? Do we provide these or the NBU?

Grateful for any insights.

Take a deep breath and read through this
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/asian-hornet-app.56342/

 

[Karol]

Can anyone advise on a question about what happens when AH appears in your area. We believe the NBU will ask our AHAT team to deploy traps around the area of sightings. Is there an approved trap or monitoring station? Do we provide these or the NBU?

Grateful for any insights.

If not when.

There is an erroneous automatic assumption that it is only a matter of time before velutina overruns the whole of the UK which is just pure nonsense.

Velutina is not biologically suited to the UK's temperate topography. Sure, there are a few locations where incursions may have more favourable conditions but these are limited by and large to the south, south east. If you are in an area largely devoid of crabro then you are highly unlikely to ever be bothered by velutina.

Set wick based bait stations and should you detect velutina, ask the NBU what they would like you to do and take it from there. Stay calm and don't panic.

 

[Erichalfbee]

If you are in an area largely devoid of crabro then you are highly unlikely to ever be bothered by velutina.

As an aside, I have, on the odd occasion, caught the odd crabro in one of your traps. I have since hardly used them but modified them anyway, narrowing the entrances down with Canadian bee escape cones. This has worked very well.
Last September our Bullace tree was food for Hornets. It was visited by scores of hornets. They used the hedge running down one side of our drive as a sort of highway. Never seen anything like it. I probably never will again. It was wonderful to watch.