The bees fight back

Posted by Beekeeper on Nov 1, 2010 in Asian Hornets, Bee behaviour, Hive problems, Hornets | 1 comment

Asian hornets are still preying on our bees, settling on the landing board and waiting for one to leave or picking off the guard bees who come out to defend the hive – the hornets tap along the landing board to encourage the bees to stick their heads out of the hive, no doubt frustrated that the hornet guards are keeping them out. Many of the bees are too slow to escape as the cooler weather has settled in and as it’s late in the season, the Asian hornets are the new queens getting ready to overwinter – huge beasts, several times the size of the bees.

Predators in the garden

Posted by Jon on Aug 30, 2010 in Asian Hornets, Hornets, Wildlife | 6 comments

I spent some time watching our Asian hornets this weekend – despite the fact that they are preying on our bees, they are fascinating creatures. Watching them as they moved around the garden and the beehives was really interesting, and I began to think that live bees may not always be their number one choice of food nor are they quite as fearsome on their own.

Asian Hornet on the prowl…

Posted by Jon on Aug 11, 2010 in Asian Hornets, Hornets | 0 comments

Following on from my nest blog yesterday, I thought I’d share these photos that we took recently of an Asian Hornet scavenging a spider’s dinner.

Asian Hornet nest

Posted by Jon on Aug 10, 2010 in Asian Hornets, Hive problems, Hornets | 4 comments

This weekend I kitted up to get rid of an Asian Hornet’s nest down in the Charente. As I’m sure everyone knows, these are the unwelcome hornets that attack our lovely hives, preying on our bees and their honey. In Asia, the Asian bees have evolved mobbing behaviour to deal with the hornets, but their European counterparts have yet to evolve an effective strategy and are therefore very much threatened by this invasive species.

Cherry harvest

Posted by Jon on Jun 5, 2010 in Beekeeping, Hornets, Wildlife | 0 comments

With all the rain and the sun that we’ve had this year, our cherry harvest has been our largest yet. We’ve picked our fill and our pigs have enjoyed bucket loads but the trees are still full of over ripe cherries. Walking nearby, the trees are humming loudly – alive with the thousands of bees now feasting on the fruit.

Asian Hornet Notification

Posted by Jon on May 30, 2010 in Asian Hornets, Hornets, Regulations | 0 comments

If you see an Asian Hornet adult or nest, please take the time to notify INPN who are mapping the spread of hornets across France. The procedure is easy – simply fill in the form detailing the location of the nest and enclose a picture and/or hornet samples, then send off to the address. By tracking the spread of the hornets, INPN hope to better understand their biology and prevent further spread. Given the speed of the spread through France, there is a real worry that they will continue to spread to other countries including the UK.

To help, we have done a quick translation of the form – if your French isn’t very good I’m sure they will still appreciate all the info in English. Fiche_signalement_Vespa Eng