European Hornet?

[David P]

Caught this fellow this morning snooping round one of my hives. I'm assuming its am European Hornet,but it looks stockier than most of the pics.

PS Nothing brave about these pics it had an hour in the freezer first.

 

[Swarm]

It's a hoverfly.

 

[David P]

should have included a ruler next to images but overall it well over an inch long , didnt realise hoverflys got that big


David

 

[susbees]

http://back-garden-moths.co.uk/community/showthread.php?6379-Volucella-zonaria-%28Largest-British-Hoverfly%29

Hover flies can mimic honey bees, bumble bees, wasps.....and hornets. Sadly this one was in the wrong place at the wrong time . A bee in the freezer only an hour will usually recover...

Location?

 

[Hivemaker.]

Looks like you bagged yourself a very rare one David....only 3 been seen in one area.

 

[David P]

that will be the one then , whoops. As for location Gloucester.


David

 

[Chris58]

Here is France we are dealing not only with our usual hornets but also the Asian ones. The European hornets are equally yellow and black striped, the Asian and mostly black with a thinner darker yellow/orange stripe. They hang around the entrance of the hives and pick off bees as they return/fly out.
The advice at the beekeepers union is to put out traps to attract the wasps and hornets especially.
Our usual trick is to cut a 2 litre empty pop botte in half - well third and two thirds. Invert the neck into the bottle, hang the two bits together in a tree and pour in a can of 22 cent (I kid you not) beer (LI*l). The hornets and wasps love it but bees hate alcohol - it works. Our neighbour has bottles full of hornets - European and Asian - caught in just a couple of days.

 

[Chris Luck]

I'm not totally convinced they are the problem they are being made out to be UNLESS you have a colony right on your doorstep.

http://www.planetepassion.eu/WILDLIFE-IN-FRANCE/Asian-Hornet_Vespa-velutina-nigrithorax_Frelon%20asiatique_France.html

As for the European Hornet, no threat at all, in fact I've just been watching some nicking bees from in front of some of my hives.

http://www.planetepassion.eu/WILDLIFE-IN-FRANCE/Hornet-or-Frelon-in-France.html

BTW, loads of the OP's hoverflies here, very common at this time of year.

 

[Gardenbees]

European hornets are rather special and not usually a huge problem, esp. compared with the almost constant wasp pressure on some apiaries in summer.

The big hoverflies that have made their way into the country in recent years are in my garden in Stroud, not so far from Gloucester. They love nectar-rich garden plants. Others have spotted them, e.g. here:http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6786&highlight=hoverfly
(I pasted some details on Volucella hoverflies in that thread)

They don't do any harm and are impressive to watch.

 

[tonybloke]

we get those huge hoverflies here in Norfolk.

 

[Chris Luck]

Here's another type that many confuse for a Hornet, they do buzz a bit.

 

[Chris58]

Hi Chris - we've met a couple of years ago at the Charente beekeeper meeting.
I agree the European hornets are no real problem - the only problem we have though is they have set up home in our chimney - one even chewed through the silver heat joint tape and came up the back of the wood burner into the living room!
The European hornets do not really cause a problem - it's the Asian ones that will actually go for you.
Loads of hoverflies, but the wild bees in next door's chimney won't even come down onto our lavender - because of the hornets?