Asian Hornets

[The Poot]

As I understand it the inspectors only track and find, the actual destruction is carried out by a different team.

But you're spot on with regards the extent to which the inspectors must be seriously stretched. I speculated earlier in this thread about possible disease spread in future years as a result.

Then the answer has to bee the fipronil custard to take out the inaccessible nests.

 

[The Poot]

Hmmm. A drone with pesticide spray should be able to dispense with cliff face nests and there is always fipronil custard as a last resort.

Oops! Didn’t see your post !

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A drone with pesticide spray should be able to dispense with cliff face nests

and I believe they have been used in either France or Jersey to tackle the higher nests.
I think we're living on fantasy island if we believe the NBU have located secondary nests then just ignored them and walked away

 

[boywonder]

Let's assume this forum comprises many of the establishment. This is not a good look:

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At the moment, from where I see things:

• No trapping
• No panic

Assuming, at some point that DEFRA (for which read NBU/APHA) do confirm we have established populations in the UK (which has always frankly been an inevitability), then we need to move into a mode (as was the case wtih varroa) where we deal with this tactically and sensibly. One one level, you can look at Richard Noel's videos and admire the fact that he even makes a living in commercial beekeeping with that level of problem in northern France. In a similar vein, you do wonder whether - especially in the South - beekeeping as a hobby will even be viable - let alone enjoyable.

Worrying times, but there are lots of kneejerk reactions, which seem to increase daily at the moment.

Let's not run around with our hair on fire.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Sounds ideal scenario for mazzamazda’s potion!

Oooops just seen Poot’s post #141

 

[RichardK]

I'm about to start the catch, dose with fipronil mixture and release strategy. I popped by my hives half an hour ago and in less than 15 minutes killed 65 Asian Hornets. It's far worse for me than last year in spite of trapping in early spring. Here, the worst month are October / November, so that 65 number could grow significantly and I need to try and pro-actively do something about it. I do have traps out but it's no where near enough.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I'm about to start the catch, dose with fipronil mixture and release strategy. I popped by my hives half an hour ago and in less than 15 minutes killed 65 Asian Hornets. It's far worse for me than last year in spite of trapping in early spring. Here, the worst month are October / November, so that 65 number could grow significantly and I need to try and pro-actively do something about it. I do have traps out but it's no where near enough.

Good luck and please let us know how successful you are.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I'm about to start the catch, dose with fipronil mixture and release strategy. I popped by my hives half an hour ago and in less than 15 minutes killed 65 Asian Hornets. It's far worse for me than last year in spite of trapping in early spring. Here, the worst month are October / November, so that 65 number could grow significantly and I need to try and pro-actively do something about it. I do have traps out but it's no where near enough.

Let us know how you do and Bon chance!

 

[Wilco]

So now NBU is looking for a bee inspector with abseiling skills. Probably not in the job description.

This sounds like my idea of fun. Where do I sign up?

 

[Newbeeneil]

This sounds like my idea of fun. Where do I sign up?

Trust you Will!
Do you want me to hold your rope?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

So now NBU is looking for a bee inspector with abseiling skills.

This sounds like my idea of fun

Bit of a chick's game sliding down a rope with a harness attached in case you slip.
We had fast roping teams on the boats - used to train with the boys in black at Poole, it enabled us to get a team on to a 'hot' yacht or on to another cutter from a helicopter - just sliding down a 3" thick rope with the only thing slowing you down (or keeping you on the rope) was the strength in your wrists and crossed ankles.
They stopped us doing it when the police decided they wanted a go and one of them forgot the bit about 'holding on to the rope' he also missed the water but made a bit of a mess on the target vessel's deck.

 

[North End Bees]

As for moving the apiary, where to? How many people can move 17 colonies to another location, this is his only apiary? He has moved the last 3 hives

It's not very helpful for you to answer questions by going back and editing your earlier post to include the information!
It makes posts further along look disjointed!
Still, thanks for the reply.

You'd have to agree, most people with 17 colonies wouldn't just have the one site. Even beginners with only a couple of hives are advised to have at least one out-apiary or a back up location for emergencies. No good watching it all unfold over several weeks and then finally moving the few survivors. As you know, the hornets forage up to about 700m from the nest so the 3 feet/3 mile rule should easily put the bees out of range of the suspected multiple nests.

there are preventions you can take, the best being the electric harp, but that runs in at £100+ and you then need a power supply, say leisure battery + spare for each hive etc etc, an expensive option.

It's not one harp per hive, it's one each end of a row of hives. Still expensive initially but there are also plenty of other options, many being easily homemade. And then you have them for next year and the year after, etc.

We are, within our means, trying to get the message out there. Where there are no nests, eg in the Essex port towns, it could simply be that no-one is looking out for them.

Oh that's right, the one nest found in mainland UK last year and the Essex AH Team said, That's good, we've had ours, now we can all relax!
I can assure you the message is being circulated tirelessly across Essex.

 

[fian]

Little_bees:
In a row of hives, when you place the harps, say every 4/5 hives, and there is a separation between the hives, the hornets dribble at the harps behind the hives.

 

[North End Bees]

Little_bees:
In a row of hives, when you place the harps, say every 4/5 hives, and there is a separation between the hives, the hornets dribble at the harps behind the hives.

Dribble at the harps behind the hives??

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Dribble at the harps behind the hives?

I think drivel would be a more apt term on this thread

 

[Tony Warren]

if there are multiple nests in the area and clouds of hawking Velutina, why aren't the NBU all over the place? especially as these people seem to know where the nests are?

They know the nests are over the cliff as the tracking stops at the top but from that point to the sea the terrain is very difficult. There are no footpaths between the clifftop to the railways line. The NBU have tried but couldnt get through. It is pretty much the same from Folkestone to Dover. A group who recently trained in Jersey are going there on Sunday morning from 9am. It is an open invite, everyone is welcome to see how the AH behave through to how tracking is carried out.

 

[Tony Warren]

I would agree with everyone watching both of Andrew's presentations. Personally I've seen them several times over the years. He did an in-person talk for our division a few years ago (he's local to us). Always good to have a refresher!

But that still doesn't explain Simon's experience. The beekeepers in France and Jersey are not having 14/17 losses. If there are multiple nests in the area why didn't he move his colonies when the hawking started to escalate?

Richard Noel (Youtube), who operates in France lost an entire apiary last year, and from his channel/talks a significant number of hobbiest beekeepers have simply given up due to the pressuer from the AHs.

 

[Tony Warren]

if there are multiple nests in the area and clouds of hawking Velutina, why aren't the NBU all over the place? especially as these people seem to know where the nests are?

The NBU are currently clearing between 1 and 2 nests a day (I think that is in Kent). They are under pressure.

 

[Tony Warren]

Gard’Apis – All about preventing predation by the Asiatic Hornet / Frelon Asiatique
The testing on these traps looks promising. Understanding the baiting is key, a part of the process is to leave some AHs in the trap as lure, being their distress pheromone.

 

[North End Bees]

They know the nests are over the cliff as the tracking stops at the top but from that point to the sea the terrain is very difficult. There are no footpaths between the clifftop to the railways line. The NBU have tried but couldnt get through. It is pretty much the same from Folkestone to Dover. A group who recently trained in Jersey are going there on Sunday morning from 9am. It is an open invite, everyone is welcome to see how the AH behave through to how tracking is carried out.View attachment 37634

That terrain, the proximity to the ports from France and the fact that this year is a bumper year for AH in Europe, all make for a perfect storm for AH to take advantage.

I hope the NBU's resources are enough to find and eradicate the nests before the sexuals are produced this autumn.

Spring trapping next year for overwintered queens will be a priority for every beekeeper in the area.