Asian Hornets

[Karol]

Designed by a French bee keeper, seems to be well regarded by Andrew Durham in his asian hornet briefing. I'm going to be building some of these.

Why? Do you have evidence of hornets attacking your hives?

 

[Karol]

I'd missed that, and in fact generally assumed that some nests from last year must have produced viable queens that survived to produce nests this year, particularly in Kent. Is there any suggestion as to why? Just poor weather and/or forage at the wrong time of year?

James

Biology. Velutina is a big insect that requires vast amounts of carbs to sustain flight. Vespine species in the UK are the size and population they are because that's what local ecology can support. You don't see UK vespine species sweet feeding when there's brood in the nest because they get all their carbs from the insect prey they catch. Very different to velutina which can't get enough carbs from insect prey in continental Europe so has to supplement with sweet feeding. UK ecology is far less supportive than the ecology where velutina has established itself in select parts of mainland Europe which further denies velutina time to bring on the sexual progeny before the weather closes in. Why as Fian says, is velutina largely confined to Galicia in Portugal and not spread further inland? Biology and ecology!

 

[fian]

Biology. Velutina is a big insect that requires vast amounts of carbs to sustain flight. Vespine species in the UK are the size and population they are because that's what local ecology can support. You don't see UK vespine species sweet feeding when there's brood in the nest because they get all their carbs from the insect prey they catch. Very different to velutina which can't get enough carbs from insect prey in continental Europe so has to supplement with sweet feeding. UK ecology is far less supportive than the ecology where velutina has established itself in select parts of mainland Europe which further denies velutina time to bring on the sexual progeny before the weather closes in. Why as Fian says, is velutina largely confined to Galicia in Portugal and not spread further inland? Biology and ecology!

It is already throughout the northern third of Spain with a consolidated population, even in the Balearic Islands, and in Cádiz, relatives of the bicolor vespa (the desert version of the Asian cousin) have been documented. Little by little the velutina is moving south, nests have already been reported in Extremadura and Valencia.

 

[JamezF]

Appreciate the logistics but East Yorkshire Farmers contend with similar difficulties on a regular basis.

Always tricky getting enough people in the right places at the bar when they call time on a Friday night...

James

 

[ericbeaumont]

sweet feeding when there's brood in the nest because they get all their carbs from the insect prey they catch

Not from the vespine larvae which reward the worker for the supply of insect protein?

 

[Moobee]

The NBU may have coped this summer with overtime and a lot of driving, but it doesn't bode well if nests increase significantly in future years and staffing & funding remain static.

As Rolande pointed out earlier, the focus on AH may easily lead to more outbreaks of notifiable disease if Inspectors are not available to nip it in the bud.

This week one of our Inspectors told me that unless a significant EFB outbreak occurred, everything was on hold to hunt for the Hackney E5 AH. They found it at the weekend, presumably working overtime.

My understanding is that all local BKAs are setting up AH groups (I’m a member of mine) - currently we are focusing on educating the public to spot and report (I believe a lot of the initial sitings over the last few years were not made by beekeepers) and I believe we will be taught how to trap & trace AH back to their nests. I’m presuming at this point the NBU would be notified to undertake the destruction. That would help the manpower situation somewhat.
One of our members who is handy with a digital printer has been selling AH traps and working with beekeepers in France to test their effectiveness.
We are also meeting with a group from the IOW who have just been to Jersey to understand & learn about how they are managing it.
I think it’s all pretty proactive but the thought of dealing with AH in my own apiaries is still very worrying. I can’t see hobbyist beeks setting up harps and probably giving up if it all gets too much.
I have AH monitoring traps set up in all of mine…..

 

[North End Bees]

I believe we will be taught how to trap & trace AH back to their nests.

Not trap and trace, monitor at bait stations and trace.
It's still illegal to release any AH caught in a monitoring trap.

 

[Karol]

Not from the vespine larvae which reward the worker for the supply of insect protein?

Of course. But those carbs still come from insect prey digested by the larvae. Thank you for picking me up on it. I shouldn't have assumed that the feeding symbiosis in the vespine nest is understood by all or that it is generally understood that the source of carbs in the vespine nest comes from the brood.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Always tricky getting enough people in the right places at the bar when they call time on a Friday night...

James

or at least ones who can reach their pockets

 

[Moobee]

Not trap and trace, monitor at bait stations and trace.
It's still illegal to release any AH caught in a monitoring trap.

Yes sorry, my error.

 

[Karol]

Not trap and trace, monitor at bait stations and trace.
It's still illegal to release any AH caught in a monitoring trap.

Absolutely.

It troubles me that people don't understand the dangers of spring trapping and that it is counter productive and actually HELPS velutina become established.

I will try to explain.

Spring trapping is aimed at catching queens. Invariably these traps will predominantly catch the more abundant species which will be the indigenous UK vespines. This reduces competition for resources and provides an opportunity for velutina to reach maturation to release its sexuals. The concept to understand here is that strong indigenous vespine populations help to starve out velutina. It is imperative that nothing is done to impede that competition.

To illustrate this with silly numbers. Lets assume that that are 1000 indigenous nests per sq mile that each produce 1500 queens, i.e. 1,500,000 million queens. Only 1 queen per nest needs to survive to maintain the same population. The vast majority of queens die during winter such that by spring only a few thousand (lets say 5000) will remain. Assume that concerted spring trapping kills 95% of all vespine queens in their vicinity (I've actually achieved much better in field studies). In this example the indigenous population of vespine wasps will crash to say 250 nests meaning that 750 nests worth of insect prey will be released into the local ecology for velutina to exploit.

Spring trapping is a matter of diminishing returns. As population numbers drop so more resources are available to support the declining populations so more individual queens survive. Statistically it's much harder to kill one or two velutina queens so they are more likely to survive. So the following year, the velutina populations starts to expand at the cost of the indigenous vespine population. Repeat this process over a number of years and what you achieve is an equilibration of velutina into the local ecology which is precisely what has happened in France. It is the single reason why I did not pursue patenting a velutina trap because as I keep repeating, not only does it not work it actually helps solidify and establish velutina.

 

[Karol]

I mentioned field studies that I performed on spring trapping. This was back in 1998 in the early days of trap design and development. The field study looked at wasp damage in a fruit orchard and the effect of spring trapping. From memory, base line fruit yields were circa 60% calculated as the proportion of fruit (plums) untouched by wasps at harvest. Summer/autumn trapping of foragers in 1999 increased yields to 83%. The decision was taken to try spring trapping based on the logic that eliminating queens would denude the orchard of wasps and therefore increase yields further. In 2000 the fruit yield crashed to 11% but not because of wasp damage. Rather there was an explosion of other insect pests and the harvested fruit were riddled with maggots. There was no sign of any wasps or wasp damage. This was the start of my education into the contribution that wasps make to the environment and a salient lesson about just how important wasps are. It helped refine wasp management strategies and the need to preserve sexuals and only target workers when they naturally start sweet feeding. Managing wasps this way takes advantage of the benefits they bring including reducing the need for pesticides in agriculture.

The approach to velutina as an invasive species necessarily needs to focus on complete eradication which cannot be achieved through trapping.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thanks, that was my estimate but as I've not seen a queen wasp since the spring I thought I'd double check my memory!

Just been sent this by a friend @marybains0

 

[fian]

I mentioned field studies that I performed on spring trapping. This was back in 1998 in the early days of trap design and development. The field study looked at wasp damage in a fruit orchard and the effect of spring trapping. From memory, base line fruit yields were circa 60% calculated as the proportion of fruit (plums) untouched by wasps at harvest. Summer/autumn trapping of foragers in 1999 increased yields to 83%. The decision was taken to try spring trapping based on the logic that eliminating queens would denude the orchard of wasps and therefore increase yields further. In 2000 the fruit yield crashed to 11% but not because of wasp damage. Rather there was an explosion of other insect pests and the harvested fruit were riddled with maggots. There was no sign of any wasps or wasp damage. This was the start of my education into the contribution that wasps make to the environment and a salient lesson about just how important wasps are. It helped refine wasp management strategies and the need to preserve sexuals and only target workers when they naturally start sweet feeding. Managing wasps this way takes advantage of the benefits they bring including reducing the need for pesticides in agriculture.

The approach to velutina as an invasive species necessarily needs to focus on complete eradication which cannot be achieved through trapping.

The argument for the defense of your proposal is unappealable, however.
Can you tell me the dates of the first sightings of vespa crabo and velutina queens. Polish data on the emergence of vespa cabro date back to the beginning of May and in Galicia the velutinas emerge with the first flowers of the camellia (early March). This means about 2 months of capture time for Vespa Velutina without interference with its potential competitor.

 

[Karol]

The argument for the defense of your proposal is unappealable, however.
Can you tell me the dates of the first sightings of vespa crabo and velutina queens. Polish data on the emergence of vespa cabro date back to the beginning of May and in Galicia the velutinas emerge with the first flowers of the camellia (early March). This means about 2 months of capture time for Vespa Velutina without interference with its potential competitor.

Dear oh dear!

Your question and flawed inferences are wrong on so many levels and simply serve to illuminate an overwhelming lack of understanding of vespine biology and ecology.

Have you considered that spring comes to Galicia two months earlier than Poland?

Crabro is a minor competitor to velutina. It's the vespula and dolichovespula species that are the dominant competitors.

 

[madasafish]

I mentioned field studies that I performed on spring trapping. This was back in 1998 in the early days of trap design and development. The field study looked at wasp damage in a fruit orchard and the effect of spring trapping. From memory, base line fruit yields were circa 60% calculated as the proportion of fruit (plums) untouched by wasps at harvest. Summer/autumn trapping of foragers in 1999 increased yields to 83%. The decision was taken to try spring trapping based on the logic that eliminating queens would denude the orchard of wasps and therefore increase yields further. In 2000 the fruit yield crashed to 11% but not because of wasp damage. Rather there was an explosion of other insect pests and the harvested fruit were riddled with maggots. There was no sign of any wasps or wasp damage. This was the start of my education into the contribution that wasps make to the environment and a salient lesson about just how important wasps are. It helped refine wasp management strategies and the need to preserve sexuals and only target workers when they naturally start sweet feeding. Managing wasps this way takes advantage of the benefits they bring including reducing the need for pesticides in agriculture.

The approach to velutina as an invasive species necessarily needs to focus on complete eradication which cannot be achieved through trapping.

Surely trapping AH queens and avoiding trapping wasps - through sized entrances/exits - would catch AH Qs but not wasp Qs? Or wasps?

 

[Karol]

Surely trapping AH queens and avoiding trapping wasps - through sized entrances/exits - would catch AH Qs but not wasp Qs? Or wasps?

In theory you would think so but in practice it's far harder to achieve. Partly because intraspecies body size can vary by as much as 20% meaning that to catch smaller velutina queens you start catching non target queens at the higher or lower range of their natural size.

From a practical perspective it also means having spring traps which are different to summer traps. Construction has to be resistant to hornets chewing their way out.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Not trap and trace, monitor at bait stations and trace.
It's still illegal to release any AH caught in a monitoring trap.

I forsee custard being employed regardless. Let's face it straight OA is also illegal but it gets used under the radar (or so I'm lead to believe)

 

[madasafish]

The Gard'Apis trap has a choice of entrance plugs with different diameters.
https://www.gardapis.co.uk/index.php/product/complete-hornet-trap-kit/

 

[OldFarm]

Why? Do you have evidence of hornets attacking your hives?

No, not yet, but let's face it, it's only a matter of time. I would rather have the traps ready and gathering dust than walk out to the apiary and see the colonies being decimated. Asian Hornets will reach this area, it's just a matter of when. Plus winter is a great time for projects in the workshop and I do like to a project or two to keep me busy.

There's going to be a lot of scare mongering as time goes by, it's already started. Better to use species specific traps rather than indiscriminate kill traps. Better to educate people on what to look for and measures that can be taken to begin to address the problem. It's not just honey bees that are at risk, Asian Hornets will decimate the populations of all sorts of insects - a single average colony will consume 11kg of insects in a single season, that's a heck of a lot of insects, and I'm sure the consequences will be far reaching.