Hello from Charente

[Charente beekeeper]

Hi,
Just a quick hello. Recently moved to Charente with my four hives from the Pas de Calais.

Loving the climate as do my bees apparently! Lovely sunny day and my bees are out and about. This takes some getting used to seeing (as do i in a tee-shirt outdoors in december!)

I've had my first brush with the Asian Hornet. My neighbour has a nest up one of his trees, i had one very small nest in my roller shutter casing (i don't anymore!)

I see them picking off my bees as i stand in front of my hives. Beekeeping down here will have new challenges i think.

I have Dadants and a homemade topbar for fun. Bees are 2 swarms that decided to move into my stacks of empty bee boxes that were put ready to transport and two that are supposed to be european black bees.

That's about it i think

 

[Erichalfbee]

Welcome. I hope the hornet isn't too much of a challenge. This forum has a few tips if you like to search about

 

[madasafish]

 

[The Poot]

Sounds great, other than the hornets. I hope it all works out well for you.

 

[Murox]

Greetings and welcome

 

[victor meldrew]

Welcome to the forum . I‘m sure it will be to our mutual benefit.

 

[Charente beekeeper]

Thanks all for the welcome.

My bees are out and about and usually there is an asian hornet there. I found one dead in my trap. I've not seen one buzzing the hives for two days now so maybe it was just this one? Is that likely? Would it be a queen at this time of year? I'm very new to hornets, only ever saw one regular one in the north.

Thanks again

 

[MMJ100]

Hi Welcome to more southern latitudes,


I am a Brit, lived here for a long time and a beekeeper of 11 years living near Nice in the Alpes Maritimes.


I was most surprised that you saw hornets whether Asian or European in late December. I would expect the queens to go and sleep between early December (normally November) and February. I would expect a nest at this time of year to be empty.


I keep some hives at my altitude (250 M) only during the winter and up to June. The rest of the time all my hives are at 1000 M where there are only very rare sightings of Hornets.


I am sure you have read up on Hornets, traps, muzzles, and other methods of dealing with them. 1 or 2 in front of a hive is not too much of a problem but 4/5 is so serious as the bees will not fly and will eventually starve or swarm in a suicidal manner. I highly recommend a muzzle.


If you need more info I wrote a posting on Rusty Burlew’s wonderful site - honeybeesuite.com - Search Asian hornets in S of France. Please, feel free to contact me directly through my site www.mjbees.com I will be delighted to answer your questions.

Good luck any way


Michael Judd

 

[Charente beekeeper]

Thanks for your reply Michael.

I'm new to this climate here in Charente. I was 15 years in the Pas de Calais with bees for the last 5. Hornets were never an issue up there thankfully.

Seeing my bees out and about en masse in December is very odd but i don't have a reference for what is normal here.

Every time i've been to the hives i've seen a hornet. It picks the bees off in mid flight as they return and seems to snap then in two.

I'll did it out of the trap if you are interested to see it.

I'll take a look at your site. Thanks for the link.

 

[MMJ100]

Hi thank you,
I have bought 4 hives down to my altitude in early Dec. I was amazed to see them bringing in Pollen in December. It is very mild this year but one wonders where they are getting pollen. Anyway it is nice to see them flying. BTW your hives will start expanding again in mid May, much earlier than up north. Here we have Mimosa that flowers in Feb and I have two trees that they will be on. So prepare early. The day/time difference between my hives at home at 250 M and my hives just 43 Kms away at 1000M is normally about 4 weeks.

I would like to see the photos

Good luck
Michael

 

[Charente beekeeper]

Yes. Mine seem to be out foraging. My willow is looking quite vivid from a distance. I'll check to see if that has started.

Thanks for the tips. I'm at 6s and 7s re timing of things!

Here's the hornet i pulled out. Before it was marinated in the trap for a few days it was more of an orange band across the tail. It's about the size of the thumb from the joint.

 

[Swarm]

Yes, that's an Asian Hornet.

 

[MMJ100]

Oh yes, Steve is quite correct - definatly an Asian one!

I went to my hives (at 1000 m altitude) today. The difference from when I last saw them 10 days ago ( I usually visit every week) is staggering. The Temperature was 9.5 deg and a watery sun. They were out of their ball, flying/foraging and bringing in Pollen. Where they are getting pollen at 1000 m I can’t imagine. The weather is mild and lower down the other hives at 250 altitude were the same but they have mimosa already budding. I find that a sudden cold spell ( especially later in spring, for example in May) can cause havoc. Over here that happens quite a lot - perhaps it is because of the mountains. So beware as I really think it is a southern thing.

You should not have a problem with Hornets until Spring is well underway. However I would put out some traps early - say March to catch any queens. Look out for golf ball sized early nests in sheds and garages and destroy them. The queens start with small nests of 7/8 hornets later they find another location for a huge nest that is rarely found until it is too late.

Two things - being at 6s and 7s is exactly how you should bee !! I find that some of the older keepers are somewhat set in their ways and do things regimentally on a certain day. It is easy to forget that weather and flowers and of course the bees themselves who decide when things happen NOT the beekeeper. So my recommendation is prepare early and watch the weather.

The other thing is, If you can manage it and are going to expand a little, I strongly recommend that you change to Langstroth hive boxes. The pros here tend to use Dadant. They tend to pick up a pallet of 4 hives with a lorry crane, and take the super off and put another on and move to say 4 locations in a season. The fact that Langstroth have the same size frames make things a lot easier for the amateur. You can swap frames about in swam prevention and it gives you a lot more flexibility with equipment generally.

Any way good luck in your new location. In am alway here and pleased to help

Michael

 

[Charente beekeeper]

Oh yes, Steve is quite correct - definatly an Asian one!

I went to my hives (at 1000 m altitude) today. The difference from when I last saw them 10 days ago ( I usually visit every week) is staggering. The Temperature was 9.5 deg and a watery sun. They were out of their ball, flying/foraging and bringing in Pollen. Where they are getting pollen at 1000 m I can’t imagine. The weather is mild and lower down the other hives at 250 altitude were the same but they have mimosa already budding. I find that a sudden cold spell ( especially later in spring, for example in May) can cause havoc. Over here that happens quite a lot - perhaps it is because of the mountains. So beware as I really think it is a southern thing.

You should not have a problem with Hornets until Spring is well underway. However I would put out some traps early - say March to catch any queens. Look out for golf ball sized early nests in sheds and garages and destroy them. The queens start with small nests of 7/8 hornets later they find another location for a huge nest that is rarely found until it is too late.

Two things - being at 6s and 7s is exactly how you should bee !! I find that some of the older keepers are somewhat set in their ways and do things regimentally on a certain day. It is easy to forget that weather and flowers and of course the bees themselves who decide when things happen NOT the beekeeper. So my recommendation is prepare early and watch the weather.

The other thing is, If you can manage it and are going to expand a little, I strongly recommend that you change to Langstroth hive boxes. The pros here tend to use Dadant. They tend to pick up a pallet of 4 hives with a lorry crane, and take the super off and put another on and move to say 4 locations in a season. The fact that Langstroth have the same size frames make things a lot easier for the amateur. You can swap frames about in swam prevention and it gives you a lot more flexibility with equipment generally.

Any way good luck in your new location. In am alway here and pleased to hel

Well here i think i have hazel pollen. Catkins everywhere. I gave one a shake. Loaded with pollen. It's only about 50m from the hives. Not checked the willow yet. When i bought them down last feb the flight path to the willow was a bee superhighway. It was obvious where they were off to. I'm seeing no action in that direction yet.

No mahonia here yet. We do have what looks like a small lilac coloured clematis type plant just flowering.

Great news, the hornet i kept seeing must have been a single one. I've seen none since.

 

[RichardK]

Thanks all for the welcome.

My bees are out and about and usually there is an asian hornet there. I found one dead in my trap. I've not seen one buzzing the hives for two days now so maybe it was just this one? Is that likely? Would it be a queen at this time of year? I'm very new to hornets, only ever saw one regular one in the north.

Thanks again

This last week fellow bee keepers my way (Perpignan) have commented on still seeing Asian Hornets so it's not a total surprise you're still seeing the odd one or two. I feel their time is severely limited though.

 

[MMJ100]

It is interesting that you are still seeing the odd Asian hornet in the Perpignan area. Over here and quite close to 2,000 M mountains I have not seen or heard of any since the 1st week of Dec. I am sad for you guys. It does show how different the micro climates are all over southern France. I just hope that the hornets have not adapted to live longer now twith hey are shall e say more established in France. Good luck to everyone.

 

[mikepurcell@silverhouseuk]

Welcome. I hope the hornet isn't too much of a challenge. This forum has a few tips if you like to search about

Hi Charent Bee Keeper

Hi,
Just a quick hello. Recently moved to Charente with my four hives from the Pas de Calais.

Loving the climate as do my bees apparently! Lovely sunny day and my bees are out and about. This takes some getting used to seeing (as do i in a tee-shirt outdoors in december!)

I've had my first brush with the Asian Hornet. My neighbour has a nest up one of his trees, i had one very small nest in my roller shutter casing (i don't anymore!)

I see them picking off my bees as i stand in front of my hives. Beekeeping down here will have new challenges i think.

I have Dadants and a homemade topbar for fun. Bees are 2 swarms that decided to move into my stacks of empty bee boxes that were put ready to transport and two that are supposed to be european black bees.

That's about it i think

Hi Charente Beekeeper, Asian hornets can, as have already witness, capable of wiping out bee colonies however there are a few practical ideas of how to deal with these scavenger pests from your bees. By building new floors that incorporate a design that not only baffles the wasps and hornets but has a restricting 8mm entrance. Would be very happy to assist with further details if you are interested. Mike Purcell