Hornet update

[OursonAnglaise]

So as not to be alarmist please remember I am in SW France!!

So last week I spotted Hornets 'Hawking' my bees. I wasn't able to say definitely whether they were Euoropen or Asian Hornts.

Unfortunately due to one reason or another I didn't set up any traps, so the bees were left to their own devices.

The good news is that the bees have survived & are flourishing....I saw a lot of pollen being taken in; inspection saw a lot of new brood & pollen stores.


Anyway, I set up 3 hornet traps using 2 litre plastic bottles & Tap Traps with a beer & sugar mix on Saturday morning; by lunchtime I had caught 4 Asian hornets, a couple of European hornets & a number of wasps.

By lunchtime today I reckon that I have caught 10 Asian hornets....these are hornets which will no longer retun to the nest, so I am depleting their population.

have left the traps for the week, so will be interested to see what my weekly final tally is.


My lesson learnt: set the traps mid-late June.

Although scary, I think eventually we will find that we can live ith Asian hornets along with all the other threats to our bees

 

[itma]

...
Anyway, I set up 3 hornet traps using 2 litre plastic bottles & Tap Traps with a beer & sugar mix on Saturday morning; by lunchtime I had caught 4 Asian hornets, a couple of European hornets & a number of wasps.

By lunchtime today I reckon that I have caught 10 Asian hornets....these are hornets which will no longer retun to the nest, so I am depleting their population.

have left the traps for the week, so will be interested to see what my weekly final tally is.


My lesson learnt: set the traps mid-late June.

...

Ummm.

My understanding was that traps should be set MUCH earlier than that, so as to nab Asian Hornets before they can successfully establish their primary nest.

And that much more 'discriminating' traps can be obtained.
"Karol" on this forum is very strong on the idea that one very important factor in trap design is zero-ing the escapers, as otherwise you are simply luring more of the pests (in his case generally wasps) into the apiary neighbourhood.

 

[OursonAnglaise]

Unil I saw hornets last week, I didn't even know they'd be a problem. (Yes, I knew they were in the area, but I'd not been aware of them before).
There is no nest that I can see in the proximity. This is my first year of beekeeping & hindsight is a wonderful thing.

In the event, I am catching those that I can.

All I can report is my experience so far. At the moment, although I have seen some bees being picked off, my bees seem to be surviving....maybe I've been lucky!

 

[tresallier]

This solution might appeal
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x...un-apiculteur-contre-le-frelon-asiatique_news

 

[OursonAnglaise]

I wish I coul have few chucks. Unfortunately I work away from home during the week, so not a viable option at the moment