Is the asian hornet a reportable insect in the UK?

[tonybloke]

if so, who do I report it to?

 

[xgeordie]

"All beekeepers should be on the look out for this hornet. Please notify the NBU immediately of any suspect hornets and send a sample to the laboratory for examination if possible."

https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?pageid=208

 

[freethorpe bees]

You haven't found one have you Tony?

 

[tonybloke]

seen by a mate near here, janet.

 

[freethorpe bees]

Sure your mate hadn't been drinking some of your damson wine?

 

[tonybloke]

sent an email to local bee inspector.

 

[MuswellMetro]

seen by a mate near here, janet.

do you think it hitched a lift in a container via Felixstowe

is this one

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPiK_071rmg[/ame]

 

[tonybloke]

loads of routes in east anglia, MM

 

[tonybloke]

do you think it hitched a lift in a container via Felixstowe

is this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPiK_071rmg

nope, he'd never seen a hornet before. he didn't know they were supposed to be yellow / reddish brown! he said it was mostly black, and from images I showed him he said definitely Asian Hornet

 

[psafloyd]

nope, he'd never seen a hornet before. he didn't know they were supposed to be yellow / reddish brown! he said it was mostly black, and from images I showed him he said definitely Asian Hornet

Let's hope he is wrong, eh?

 

[tonybloke]

it flew into the cab of his van, he was VERY close to it for long enough to do a positive ident

 

[freethorpe bees]

Blimey - I hope it isn't one!

 

[MJBee]

The "U Tube" hornet is a European Hornet - big scary and sounds like a Lancaster bomber. See my avatar for Asian Hornet - slightly smaller just as scary and silent in flight. The broad black band on the abdomen is very distinctive.

 

[picton farm]

So how do we protect our precious bees?

 

[MuswellMetro]

So how do we protect our precious bees?

they don't like Rain but the east of england would appear ideal for them

 

[Storm™]

Not to second guess the OP opinion but if it was a European hornet queen which are huge, "a" way to protect your bees is to get a camping insectocutor. Mains or battery. Leave it about 20 yards from the hive. But only at night. Less dangerous for bees as asleep. The European hornet hunts both day and night. We had a nightmare here last year. Every night and morning whilst dark we were attacked whilst outside for a smoke. I got them but it was mad. Cigarette in one hand, electro tennis racket in the other. So I had to research them. Found out that 6 working round a hive can decimate it in an afternoon.

 

[psafloyd]

Found out that 6 working round a hive can decimate it in an afternoon.

I thought the Asian hornet did far more damage than simply reduce the colony by 10.

 

[harveyzone]

I thought the Asian hornet did far more damage than simply reduce the colony by 10.

By a tenth, surely.

 

[psafloyd]

By a tenth, surely.

Didn't hit the '%' key hard enough, Harvey. But you are quite right. 10%.

 

[MJBee]

The effect of the Asian hornet has been very variable in the Dordogne. Some beekeepers have lost between 50 and 100% of their colonies while others have lost none. My first sighting was 2009, just 1 or 2 at a time taking a single bee, a nest was found that Autumn (when the leaves fell) about 300 m away. Last year was more or less the same but I found a lot more in the traps I deployed from mid Feb onwards.

The published information about the AH states that the bees ignore a single hornet but an attack of 5 or more causes moderate panic and an all out attack of 20 or more stops foraging and the colony is then entered and wiped out.

Thus far I have been lucky and not suffered a mass attack - traps and a badminton raquet seems to keep the numbers down and is very theraputic