Bees killing hornets in France

I know it is stating the obvious but every year is different in the natural world and no two years can be the same, however this is becoming increasingly exaggerated.

Habitat loss, agricultural methods and climate change along with other factors are causing rapid major changes for our native species requiring them to adapt or perhaps in some cases disappear completely.

For some species this is creating opportunities and they have expanding populations that are sometimes associated with an expansion in their range. However for most species there are accelerating declines and this in turn leads to changes of behaviour as species attempt to adapt.

Where I live most insect species have been in overall decline for the last 25 years and this year has been abysmal for them but I want to talk specifically about hornets. 

Following the usual slow start as nests were established and populations grew I started to see a gradual increase in both Asian and European hornets in the 2^nd half of July and there are presently sizeable numbers of both around the hives and where the bees take water. Of course it’s to be expected that the Asian hornets would be behaving like this but it’s the native European hornets that are behaving differently in so much as they are concentrating their activity on taking honey bees. They always do take some but this is different and I can only speculate that it’s the shortage of all the usual insects they take to feed their larvae. This in turn is putting them more in harms way than would otherwise be the case and I have been finding several dead European hornets in front of hives.

Unlike the Asian hornets that keep their distance I have noticed that our native hornets tend to get very close to the hive entrance, even briefly landing on it, so it was no surprise that when putting the mouse guards back on the hives for winter the other day I saw a European hornet mobbed by a mass of guard bees when it got too close to the hive entrance. The hornet didn't stand a chance but it was 45 minutes before the bees were finally satisfied that they had dealt with her.

Amazingly no bees died in the process.

Chris

Man stung 30 times by Asian Hornets in France

It’s not that Asian Hornets venom is anymore toxic than our native hornet and wasps, or even that they are more aggressive away from their nest. It’s more about where Asian Hornets are increasingly choosing to make their nest.

I’ve chosen a few recent cases to illustrate this.

In Montmorillon, Vienne, a 76 year old man was stung more than 30 times by Asian Hornets in his garden when cutting a small hedge outside his house on the 30th of October 2019.

When his wife came to his assistance he was covered in hornets and she was stung 5 times before neighbours arrived with thick clothing and managed with the use of wasp sprays to get him away from them. He was transported to the hospital by the Pompiers to receive treatment.

The couple had never noticed the presence of the hornets in the hedge which is about 50cm high.

Earlier in the year on 1st August, in the Nantes area another man was stung more than 10 times when he disturbed an Asian Hornet nest in the water meter box and fortunately suffered no serious effects, however the day before at Grayan-et-l'Hôpital, Gironde, a woman died following multiple stings when she disturbed an Asian Hornet nest at about 1.5 metres from the ground when going to her post box.

In these and most other cases attacks occur when nests are disturbed, whether that is Wasps, Bees or Hornets. I have myself suffered the consequences of putting a brush cutter into a wasp nest at ground level and know how easy it is to hack away without first looking for any obvious nest activity. 

What’s becoming increasingly clear for anyone that has been following the evolving situation with Asian Hornets year on year is that they are increasingly making their nests close to the ground. This inevitably leads to an increase in attacks. (European Hornet nests are always under cover in buildings or hollow trees making accidental disturbance less likely).

Other than in a handful of cases a year in France very few people actually die from stings.

More about stings LINK HERE

Chris

Trapping Asian Hornets

You would be forgiven for thinking that people that keep bees would be concerned about the environment and the general well being of all creatures. Sadly this is often not the case; indeed many bee keepers make a living as so called pest destroyers.

Anyway as they say “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions” and in this case bee keepers, bee keeping groups and other wildlife groups have been extolling the virtues of trapping Asian Hornets, especially in the early spring when the new queens are coming out of hibernation without thinking or considering the repercussions.

The traps that are usually based on the principle of a plastic bottle with a small entrance, often the inverted neck of the bottle, are suspended with a quantity of attractant added. There are various mixtures used but Brown beer, Cider and Cherry syrup mixes seem to be favoured, the argument being that this won’t attract honey bees. It will however attract European Hornets and our native social wasps which are suffering enough already and generally in decline even if you may not think so if you are at place where people are congregating to eat and consume sugary drinks in summer. Of course other insects and flies will also be drawn to the traps and suffer an unnecessary slow death. All of this shows a remarkable ignorance of the current situation of insects decline that is having a devastating effect on our wildlife. 

Of course there are selective ways to kill Asian Hornet Queens in the early spring but they require a little effort, but in my opinion that effort is well worth while if it means protecting our native species.

In early spring Bee keepers or individuals can try to kill as many Asian Hornet Queens as possible by hand. They will be easily lured to the slightest scent of honey and I find swatting them with a plastic tennis racket is the easiest method and we can then avoid killing European Hornets and other wasps. 

ASIAN HORNET

Chris

Asian Hornet nest in my apiary - 2014

Cheeky or what?

You may find this a bit hard to believe and it certainly is an eye opener but now the leaves have started to fall Lynne spotted this yesterday when I was out for the day – an Asian Hornet nest actually situated almost directly over one of my hives and no more than 30 metres from several others.Click on photos to enlarge.

So what does this tell us? It tells us that maybe, just maybe, the Asian Hornet isn’t quite as dangerous to honey bees as has been thought. It also tells us to always be very careful when drawing conclusions based on limited third party information that may lack a solid foundation or without knowing all the surrounding facts of any given situation, something we can all learn a lesson from.

Of course this doesn’t mean that they can’t be a problem in some circumstances and it may be that they are modifying their behaviour, adapting to local conditions and taking other prey or simply that one Asian Hornet nest won’t have a serious impact where there are a large number of hives. As I have mentioned many times I have seen Asian hornets present around my hives ever since 2006/2007 without observing them being anything other than a minor irritation for my bees.

This one with the one I removed earlier this year from an empty hive makes me wonder just how many nests there have been within flying range of my hives but this is certainly fascinating for me, you can’t beat first hand experience.

Asian Hornets in a Bee hive

Asian Hornet in France

Chris

Asian Hornets in a Bee hive

Like most tales there is a history of events and like most tales that involve me it contains a somewhat casual randomness of action that is characteristic of my approach to life.

In the spring of last year I collected some bees in a ruchette, (small hive box), and returned home with them around dusk and spotting an empty African Top Bar Hive with a flat lid I thought that will do and put them on top of it. The colony grew as most of them do and as this was now their orientated spot I transferred them into a full hive in the same position.

Click on images to enlarge.

This spring I added a honey super along with all the other hives that required them and left them to it just keeping an eye on things in case anything went seriously wrong and also when and if supers need adding or changing. Then about four weeks ago when I was by that particular hive I saw an Asian Hornet fly into the empty Top Bar Hive and not come back out. Ooooop’s thought I, better keep an eye on that and see what’s happening as it wasn’t possible for me to easily move the occupied hive on top and should it be an Asian Hornet nest there would be plenty of time to deal with it before it could even be considered a nuisance.

Time passed as it does and last week I observed that there was an increase in activity with the odd Hornet coming and going. The problem was that I managed to injure my back the other week which has made lifting and heaving impossible or as good as impossible without risking an even worse back situation with the honey harvest due in 3 or 4 weeks.

Anyway, yesterday Fred Woolford a bee keeper friend came round to give me a hand to move things to enable us to access to the Hornet nest.  In the event it wasn’t complicated with two people simply using some blocks and another empty hive to stand the occupied one on. For the bees this only meant moving their entrance forward by 60 or 70 cm on their existing flight path. When we did this it rocked the Top Bar Hive a bit and a small number of not very happy Hornets came out to buzz us and having left them to settle a bit I removed the lid from the hornet hive to reveal a lovely little nest as you can see in the photos.

I’m sure some people may have looked at that and thought “What’s the fuss about?” but it’s at this time of year that an Asian Hornet colony will increase in size exponentially and can reach huge proportions in both physical size and population by September.

The rest is history for the Hornets at any rate, sad but necessary, native hornets I may have tolerated even that close to an active hive but not an introduced species.

ASIAN HORNET FRANCE


Chris

An Aesculapian snake fell in the river today.

Having injured my back which has put a temporary halt to all strenuous activity and as it’s been 31°C this afternoon I thought I’d have a wander by the River Charente just to the east of Civray where I could mooch about in the shade of the trees and see what, if anything, turned up or just being lazy in other words, something I'm quite experienced in.

The river Charente has had Asian Hornets almost since they arrived in France as they appeared to follow the river and the tall poplar tree plantations that board the river have provided ideal places for them to make their nests. With this in mind it was no surprise to see some flying around by the riverside but my interest was taken by the fact that they were taking nectar from Water Figwort and stopped to take a few photos, or rather try to as they wouldn't stay still.  

Click on photos to enlarge.

It’s worth mentioning at this point that the River Charente is a very clean river in the upper reaches, it positively heaves with a variety of fish which is great for the Otters! Carp, chub, roach, perch, pike, bream and barbell abound and there are plenty of large mature specimens along with large shoals of fry so it’s not unusual to hear and see the occasional large splash. So it was at this point while looking at the Asian Hornets that there was a large splash about 10 metres from the bank in front of me and then a snakes head emerged from the water and it started to swim towards me. Now for some people I can imagine this isn't their idea of fun but for me it’s always a real treat and I immediately froze so as not to frighten it away and waited as it slithered up the bank and into a hazel bush on the riverside. It didn't dawn on me immediately that the snake had actually fallen from an overhanging branch and I was expecting a “water snake”, either a Grass snake or a Viperine snake and was surprised to see that it was in fact an Aesculapian snake about 70cm or so in length, beautiful! They are frequently found alongside water courses and only a few weeks ago I had seen one dead in the road near the centre of town not far from the river. For anyone that doesn't know Aesculapian snakes are generally timid, slow moving and with care quite approachable which enabled me to get nice and close for the next 10 minutes while it meandered its way round the small branches before eventually sliding away along the bank side. They and the Western whip snake are climbing snakes and both spend time in trees and bushes where they can sometimes take young birds. They will both spend time in peoples roofs as well where shed skins can sometimes be found.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Aesculapian Snake

Asian Hornet

Viperine Snake

Grass Snake

Chris

Conops vesicularis and the Asian Hornet, an interesting development?

The war against the Asian Hornet continues.

Conops vesicularis is a small fly from the genus Conops in the family Conopidae and its larvae are endoparasites of bees and wasps. Females inject their eggs into the target species where the larvae develop by eating the host causing its death – all very charming I can see you thinking however it may be a help in controlling the Asian Hornet, an invasive introduced species that targets Honey bees.

Three researchers from the 'Institut de recherche sur la biologie de l'insecte (CNRS/Université François Rabelais de Tours) have been conducting research into whether native parasitic species could have an impact on the health of Asian Hornet colonies.

They scrutinized the life of 12 colonies of Asian hornets situated near their laboratory in Tours. The colonies were monitored twice a week between June and August 2013 and out of the 12 colonies studied only three developed normally. It was the others that interested the researchers. From inside the decimated colonies they collected two dead queens for dissection and each was found to have a parasite in the abdomen that had completely devoured their insides.

This parasite has been identified as Conops vesicularis, a native species common in Europe that normally attacks Bumble bees and that has no nuisance potential for humans but in these instances it seems to be capable of taking on the Asian Hornet giving hope that eventually this parasite could limit the number of colonies of Asian hornets, or even lead to their decline in Europe.

Asian Hornet in France

Chris

Poor year for wasps and hornets

As far as I can gather this really hasn't been a good year at all for the social wasps including Hornets in much of France. It’s that bad first 6 months to the year again that caused all the problems, cold nights and too wet, especially bad for the ground nesting wasp species.

Now I guess a lot of people will be happy with this as they are a group of insects that people generally love to hate, or if hate’s too strong a word, dislike intensely. Broadly I can understand why, they are known to sting in certain circumstances and very few people actually enjoy pain or the reaction that can sometimes follow, swelling, itching, soreness and so on although in reality most people are rarely stung or experience very strong reactions if they are. 

Of course as usual the media plays a largely negative role with "shock stories" should someone actually die, usually as a result of disturbing a nest and receiving a large number of stings, or perhaps because they are one of the relatively rare people that go into Anaphylactic shock from wasp stings. However when looked at objectively what we find is that wasp stings are just about at the bottom of the list of events likely to cause a serious ongoing health problem or death.

If I take for convenience the official cause of deaths in 2010 for England and Wales which totaled 493,242 registered during the year we find that only five people suffered fatal “contact with hornets, wasps and bees".

BUT a total of more than 3,600 people died in falls, including 50 who slipped on ice or snow.  99 people were killed in falls from beds, 52 in falls from chairs, 655 fell down flights of stairs and 13 died accidentally after falling off a cliff.  

Needless to say you will have gathered by now where I'm going and that I quite like wasps and hornets and I would like to think not without good reason.

Top of the list is that they kill tons and tons of other insects throughout a full season to feed their larvae. The insects chosen will vary according to the species and to what are available but will include lots of aphids and other so called garden pests. Beats using pesticides and promotes balance.

Secondly they are a food source themselves for other creatures. A couple of good examples are the Honey Buzzard, Pernis apivorus,  that will rip apart perhaps a 100 or more wasp nests during the summer months to feed both themselves and their young with the larvae, and the Bee-eater Merops apiaster will also take large numbers of wasps and hornets among other insects to feed themselves and their young.

A lack of wasp nests will lead to Honey Buzzards digging out Bumble bee nests which is something to be avoided if at all possible.

So perhaps wasps and hornets aren't really that bad after all?

Links: 
Honey Buzzard in France
Bee-eater in France

Feeding my bees

Usually I don't need to feed any of my bees before winter but due to the bad weather this year, especially the first 6 months, everything was behind with some colonies swarming as late as July with a corresponding slow build up in colony population strength.

As things worked out it wasn't too bad by the end of August although the honey yield was poor, probably only about a third of what it should have been. Most hives were already well loaded and heavy with honey for the winter leaving all of September remaining to forage the ivy which was abundant this year. Ivy, a much maligned plant, is a great source of nectar and pollen for the bees at the end of the season and plays an important role for a number of species.

However I had half a dozen underweight colonies from late reared Queens and I've been feeding these to boost their population size and hopefully get them up to weight with sufficient honey stores to get them through winter but I'm still left with three that are underweight even now towards the end of October.  

The plastic feeder sits over a hole in the top or crown board of the hive enabling the bees to climb up and take the syrup and the clear plastic cap prevents the bees from actually getting in the syrup and drowning. There are many views on what, how and when to feed bees and I make mine with water, sugar, honey plus a small amount of cider vinegar. In an ideal world I wouldn't be feeding any this late in the year and really need to stop before November.

While I was filling the feeders I had a visitor to the hive top, an Asian Hornet. These are still taking bees from the hive entrances even though there are hardly any bees flying now.

On the good news front an insect that hasn't had a bad year at our place is the Praying Mantis, they go from strength to strength here and every other hive seems have one sitting on it for the last 6 or 7 weeks or so, often right on the hive entrance. Of course Mantis like everything else have to eat and they don't eat many bees really, not enough to worry about.

Asian Hornet nest in a stone barn wall.

Just when I thought things would go quiet on the "bee and wasp" front I received a phone call first thing this morning from a lady with an Asian Hornet nest in a cavity in a stone barn wall.

Due to the awful weather in most of France for the first 6 months of 2013 all "wasp" family species have had a bad year with a reduced number of successful colonies and a late start for those that finally got going.

This one had grown rapidly in the last 5 or 6 weeks, outgrown whatever space they had inside the wall leading to a requirement to expand the nest outside of the wall. Still very active, continuing to grow and at head height from the ground the nest was becoming a danger to the householder, her dogs and horses. Of course this is also one of those cases with an introduced species where destruction is a necessity especially if there is a likelihood of next years Queens being killed and reducing the number of colonies next year.

Always sad to have to destroy such a beautiful creation and kill the occupants.

As far as I am aware this year, 2013, has produced some of the first examples of Asian Hornets making nests in cavities since their arrival in France in 2004. The usual place has always been in the open suspended from a tree branch or in bushes. Whether this indicates an actual change in behavior or simply a result of the bad weather preventing them from moving the initial nest remains to be seen. Certainly it would make their destruction easier than attempting to reach them 30 meters up a tree.

Information about the Asian Hornet can be found at Asian Hornet in France