Janelle Quitman, Asian Hornet Coordinator for Hampshire Beekeepers Association: ahat.hampshirebeekeepers@gmail.com
For farmers, gardeners and beekeepers, living with nature means always preparing six months ahead. In September, by ensuring our bee boxes are full of food stores, we aren’t thinking of the autumn but the spring because we want the bees to survive the winter and be ready for the season ahead.
The few sunny days recently, with hazel and snowdrops full of pollen, insects are emerging.
We are approaching the time when Asian Hornet queens will be emerging from hibernation – when the temperature is consistently reaching 13o C, we need to be monitoring for their presence.
Hornets need water close by for building and maintaining their nests.
We don’t know if there are any Asian Hornet queens over wintering in the UK this year, or whether any mated queens will make their way into the UK post hibernation. But we need to be prepared, have your camera and binoculars ready.
We strongly recommend the use of monitoring stations, rather than killing traps. This allows us to obtain evidence of Asian Hornets, without killing our native beneficial insects – European Hornets are beneficial insects.
Asian Hornet queens will be searching for sugary foods to build up their energy, not preying on your bees. This means that all monitoring stations need to be positioned where you can see them and where you can easily check them daily – e.g. outside the kitchen window, or in a sunny spot in your garden. Where it will be easy to obtain a photograph of them feeding.
A photograph makes triage so much easier.
All beneficial insects must be released from monitoring stations daily.
The adaptation of Thornes traps to include the wick stations inside, allows wasps and small flies to escape. (See Instructions below)
Liquid bait
Use Suterra (now sold as Trappit wasp attractant) Get this from your AHAT Team leader (keep yourself and others safe, comply with government guidelines) or buy online (Pestfix.co.uk sells smaller bottles)
If you cannot get it due to current restrictions try one of these French recipes:
- Dark beer mixed with 25ml strawberry dessert sauce and 25ml orange liqueur
- 350ml sweet white wine (or white wine sweetened with sugar) + 20-30ml mint syrup
Please also observe any flowers where Asian Hornet queens may be feeding eg., Camelias (in China they prefer the autumn flowering camelia).
Any trees that may be oozing sap are also very attractive to AH queens in Spring. As is the Goat moth (Cossus cossus) so called because the adult emits smells like a goat which makes a delicious meal for the hornet.
Being confined to our homes now gives us the ideal opportunity to spend time monitoring for Asian Hornets.
From mid May AH queens will be mainly in their nests – so monitoring stations can be removed, which works in nicely for the busy swarm season and the harvesting of oil seed rape honey.
