Your all right, what i was proposing to Mark was that if we carry on with the method Mark has perfected, but instead of poisoning the hornet and releasing, which as Mark says, has to be specific, i was proposing we glue a small disc on to the thorax of the Hornet. (which is considerable larger than a queen bee, so potential its a really good vector)
This disc is actually concave and acts like a little tray, we load the tray with a newly concocted dose, probably weaker than the original, but in a thick youghurty or custard gloopy type mix, that will hold its shape.( and is protein rich)
This will then be easily carried to the nest upon release. The receiving hornets will then eat a lot of it, and or spread it around the next. Death of said colony will be pretty soon, within a few days.
My main point is, the hornet does not come in to contact with the treatment. so its a perfect vector for the treatment. The hornet remains strong and carries its entire package to the SPECIFIC TARGET,
Ive heard through various people that the amount needed to kill a nest is tiny, so we need not worry about total dose. A very small amount entering the nest will do the dob perfectly well.
Common Hornets are not affected and in any way.
In my opinion, too much time is spent in "Trophy hunting" for the nests and if more time was spent in specific treatment of individual specimens, the job would be done quickly , effectively with much less resources. any beekeeper can catch a hornet. ( i know initially many wanted to study individual nests for familiarisation and biology study, but those times are over now!)
You should all be thanking Mark ( Mazzamazda) for his work. It will go on to reduce countless numbers of nests.
This year in North Brittany has, so far been remarkable, we have no Asian Hornets. A Combined very cold April , when the queen founders were out and about and with a group of Communes, combining and put out over 5000 traps, has culminated in no hornets in any of my 13 apiaries and many are the same commune wide!!
I visited another department last week , only an hours drive from me and the place was over run with the damn things.
My attitude is, you have to get the source, its no good really trapping in the summer, , purely for the purpose of monitoring as summer trapping dosent really work. We should be solely targeting the main nests after spring trapping has done its job. So many are trying to make up devices that dissuade hornets from taking bees, giving bees another entrance to use, which possibly has merit in a heavily infested area. However but in my mind, the heavier the infestation the easier it is to have success.
Their not targeting the root of the problem, just trying to address the problem at the hive entrance level. The problem isn't there, its up in a tree, 2 kilometres away!!!!!!!! how more specific must one be!!!!
More work needs to be done, but I've said this a thousand times, were all still keeping bees in France and slowing winning a battle. DONT PANIC!!!
