Swarms of 'angry' killer Asian hornets heading to Britain

[eddyh]

cant beat a good plate of bland stodge,that should send them packing.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

... After all, the French are going to bomb Syria for us..

I'm sure I read in the Daily Mail that there was a fire over the weekend in the factory that supplies white flags to the French military and until they can find a new supplier, they are not going to undertake any military actions.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

(After all, the French are going to bomb Syria for us..)

Yes - which will be a good deal safer for the UK, than if the Americans were doing the bombing.

[Now that the 'special relationship is dead, and the French are the USA's new best friend, I wouldn't want to live in Paris, subjected to the yanks' 'friendly fire'.]

Dusty

 

[Chiangmai member]

Looking at the carnage caused by wasps at some apiaries this year, I don't think the arrival of the Asian hornet in the UK is going to be too much to worry about. Whilst they do take a few bees, in my experience in Thailand, it is rare to have them enter hives. (unlike our much larger and more fearsome Vespa tropica), (see attachment).

The identification of V.Velutina is quite easy. If you see a hovering insect near the entrance to a hive, and it has yellow feet, then get on the phone!

 

[MMJ100]

Every area has it's own predators. Wasps seem to be a problem in the UK. The wasps here are not interested in the hives but the Asian hornet sure is.
Aside from all the most amusing comments about the French etc
I have three hives that have been under siege for over three weeks (before that about 2/3 at a time) now 5/7 at a time all day. The bees are not leaving the hives much and I fear I will loose all of them.
The Asian hornet is a serious menace and I sincerely hope for all your sakes it does not get to the UK.
interestingly the three hives under siege seem to just stay in doors. Whereas two more hives about 6 meters away set up large beards seemingly as a defence method. The Hornets are noticeably less interested in those two hives.
Good luck to everyone

 

[Putnamsmif]

Every area has it's own predators. Wasps seem to be a problem in the UK. The wasps here are not interested in the hives but the Asian hornet sure is.
Aside from all the most amusing comments about the French etc
I have three hives that have been under siege for over three weeks (before that about 2/3 at a time) now 5/7 at a time all day. The bees are not leaving the hives much and I fear I will loose all of them.
The Asian hornet is a serious menace and I sincerely hope for all your sakes it does not get to the UK.
interestingly the three hives under siege seem to just stay in doors. Whereas two more hives about 6 meters away set up large beards seemingly as a defence method. The Hornets are noticeably less interested in those two hives.
Good luck to everyone

You are right of course. Any invasive species be it insect, mammal or plant should be actively fought. I hope you bees make it.

That's very interesting how two of your hives seem to be bearding to defend themselves. Could it just be coincidence because Apis Mellifera is not known to have a defence mechanism against hornet attack is it? And it sounds similar to how Apis Cerana defends itself against giant hornet attack.

 

[Chiangmai member]

At the moment in Chiangmai, V.velutina is a bit of a problem but I have found that if you spend an hour, early one morning swatting all of them, (and they are very easy to swat), then predation is greatly reduced for quite a few days afterwards. I think this may because the pheromone trail that the hornets lay between our hives and their nest, goes cold without returning foragers, and it takes them time to relocate the food source and re-establish the link. What does not seem to work so well is swatting a few, now and then.

If you do use a trap, I think its better to use a meat bait, (they like pork), rather than a sugar based bait. We want to trap the ones that are foraging for animal proteins, not sugars.

MMJ100's colonies under siege may eventually be weakened to the point that the hornets will arrive on mass and then the colony may be lost. However, you can help the bees a lot by feeding a tray of sugar water every couple of days.

 

[madasafish]

My warre hives beard against wasps.

 

[Nige.Coll]

looking at those nasty beggars i think i need a thicker bee suit .

 

[user 6228]

My warre hives beard against wasps.

Build a "Thermoplyae" making the entrance a tunnel with a bit of length a la dartington or tree. Then perhaps you will need only 300 bees to defend the nest!

 

[MMJ100]

Putnamsmif, I wish I knew the answer, but there is a stark difference. However today for the first time one of the group of three was out doing orientation flights with a small beard. The hornets were pushed back a but, although they did get a few who flew too far from the hives.

Chiangmai Member you have made two very good points I must look into getting some pork for them. BTW I am using a sugar based concoction which includes a sprinkling of honeyed wax from last years harvest in 5 traps and I get so many hornets I have to empty the traps every 5 days.

Thanks for the idea will advise

Michael

 

[MartinL]

Build a "Thermoplyae" making the entrance a tunnel with a bit of length a la dartington or tree. Then perhaps you will need only 300 bees to defend the nest!

Thermopylae, sounds a bit of a marathon to me!

Wasn't she torpedoed by the Portugese Navy?

 

[madasafish]

Build a "Thermoplyae" making the entrance a tunnel with a bit of length a la dartington or tree. Then perhaps you will need only 300 bees to defend the nest!

My building abilities are a bit spartan for that.....

 

[pargyle]

My building abilities are a bit spartan for that.....

Oh dear ... it's all Greek to me !