Invasive hornets

[captivebolt]

Anyone got any info on the possible invasion of Asian Hornets travelling across the Channel? Big mean dodgy wasps with attitude, lethal stings and a nasty habit of wiping out honey bees.

Captivebolt

[aeshna5]

I don't think any have been recorded here yet, but there was a mention in the last issue of British Wildlife, talking of its spread in France.

According to the article Vespa velutina probably arrived in Bordeaux in 2004 in some pottery from China + by last year had reached north Brittany coast + Paris.

I would guess there's a reasonable chance it could turn up here!

[captivebolt]

Press report today said it's probable! Oo-er. I live near Brighton. Scarey. More to the point what could this do to honey bees already under major threat from lice?
Captivebolt

[Beekeeper]

captivebolt, i really hope these things are not here because they will devastate colonies of bees if they become established, personally i would think the only way for them to cross the channel is with mans help, the same way the varroa mite got here and many other things which are not native to our country.

As a matter of interest, i saw a film on these hornets some time ago, it was horrifing to see how they attacked a colony of bees and the futile efforts of the bees to defend their home.

Ian

[eucera]

I suspect they will get here under their own steam eventaully. There is no evidence to suggest that they will be any more of a problem than our native hornet (Vespa crabro).

I have French colleagues who are beekeepers and they don't seem over-bothered with V. velutina.

The film that was shown a couple of years back was of Vespa mandarinia - a totally different creature, double the size and... the nearest colonies are further from UK than the nearest wild Bengal Tigers

[Beekeeper]

Originally Posted by eucera

The film that was shown a couple of years back was of Vespa mandarinia - a totally different creature, double the size and... the nearest colonies are further from UK than the nearest wild Bengal Tigers

It was not that film i was referring too, this was a film provided at a beekeepers meeting which i attended being as i was secretary at the time, it was also a good deal further back, probably at least 10 years now.

Ian

[eekoh]

Hope we don't get foreign hornets, don't want the bees to suffer but also I discovered last year that I'm allergic to wasp stings so I dont' fancy getting stung by anything larger!

[captivebolt]

Originally Posted by eekoh

Hope we don't get foreign hornets, don't want the bees to suffer but also I discovered last year that I'm allergic to wasp stings so I dont' fancy getting stung by anything larger!

Off thread but you can get an adrenalin injector from your doctor. Anaphylactic shock kills fast!

Meantime, as I understand it, these big Asian hornets have leapfrogged several other species and are now breeding in Brittany and along the French Channel coast. They have learned to send raiding groups to hives, from 5 - 50strong. Every time a bee comes out on a honey seeking flight, it is attacked by several hornets which decapitate it, bite off its wings and legs, and carry it back alive to their own nest as food for the hornet larvae. Bit like a haplo - diploid trunk murder. Once they have weakened the hive enough, they go in and finish off the remaining workers. Bees further South have evolved tactics to deal with them but our native bees have not had the time required. I am open to correction on this, but apparently they could be a real threat.

Captivebolt

[eucera]

I think you might be confusing their MO with that of Vespa mandarinia in the far East. These are gigantic hornets - (V. velutina is a tad smaller than our own native hornet).

V. mandarinia is a serious threat to Honey bee hives in Japan, especially the imported non-native Apis mellifera. The local honeybees Apis cerana surround the invaders and kill them by heat shocking them.

I am a bit concerned with Tim Lovett (former Chairman of the BBKA) trumpeting V. velutina as an immediate problem in UK, as last time this sort of thing was done it became open season on our native hornet - an inoffensive creature if ever there was one. One local newspaper was even gleefully encouraging its readers to go out and slaughter as many as possible.

[captivebolt]

Thanks. As I said, I am open to correction here! When I was about 15 I stole the key to our garden shed and refused to let my parents in until the paper wasp who was raising her brood had finished the job and left. My father was talking DDT! I've had a soft spot for wasps ever since
Captivebolt