Bee Number 12

The Asian Hornet: As summer turns to Autumn the hardest test

So far in this defence strategy against the Asian hornet I looked in detail at spring trapping of ‘founder queens’, at measures we can take to defend our apiaries and at summer trapping of worker hornets.

Now I will look at some of the wider issues, at what we can do in the final stage of the hornet’s autumn assault on the hives and at the autumn trapping of ‘sexuals’, i.e. the male and female hornets that emerge from the nest in late-September/October/ November. I shall also look at some additional trapping options that are not mentioned elsewhere in relation to the Asian hornet and then suggest what our strategy should be and list the actions to be taken through the year.

“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Winston Churchill 4 June 1940

As summer turns to autumn the Asian hornet’s nest grows ever larger. The demand for food on hornet workers increases and in turn the pressure of the hornet’s predation on beehives becomes almost intolerable. This is the time when weakened colonies may collapse and be overwhelmed or be too weak to survive the winter. Our bees and their beekeepers will face this, the hardest test.