Life has always been a challenge for the honey bee but the Asian hornet could pose a deadly new threat
BEEKEEPERS across Ireland and Britain are bracing themselves for the potential arrival of the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) across the English Channel and the Irish Sea. Originally from eastern Asia, the deadly little creature, also known as the yellow legged hornet, is already in France, with experts believing they travelled to the country in Chinese pottery in 2004.
In the ensuing decade, they colonised huge areas of French countryside, wiping out native bees and causing honey production to spiral downwards in affected regions. At up to three inches in length and with stingers that are about quarter of an inch long, they have already been blamed for the deaths of six French people who suffered from anaphylactic shock after being stung.
They have now spread to Belgium, the Netherlands, northern Italy and northern Spain, killing off native bees as they move into new areas.
The Asian hornet can kill up to 40 honey bees a minute - that's 2,400 an hour!
The hornets' queens build their nests in April, laying eggs on a grand scale until her colony's population is about 6,000-strong.
In July the hornets start hunting honey bees because the brood needs animal proteins, which are given to their larvae in flesh pellet form. According to the UK's National Bee Unit, the nest focuses in autumn on the production of potential queens, averaging around 350, and male drones, who will mate with the queens. The mated queens overwinter and leave the workers and males to die before winter.
The following spring, the fertilised founder queens begin the production of new colonies. Experts on both sides of the Irish Sea are monitoring how the French are tackling the crisis.
In France, nest numbers have been slashed by 90 per cent in areas where traps have been deployed in springtime.
The Republic's Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine has said that the risk of "immediate introduction" to the state is not "currently" considered high, but it has a contingency plan in place if the Asian hornet does arrive on southern shores, including alerting beekeepers of the threat. A spokesman for Northern Ireland's DARD described the Asian hornet as an "aggressive predator" which not only targets honey bees but other beneficial insects. He also stressed that members of the public should never disturb an active nest because Asian hornets will sting.
DARD's Bee Health Inspectors are working with individual beekeepers and associations to set up Sentinel Apiaries across the north to monitor for the presence and allow for early detection of quarantine pests and diseases. "The goal is to have an early warning of new pest and disease threats to bee health so that the contingency plan can be implemented and assess the possibility for eradication or containment," the spokesman added.
Designated beekeepers operating the sentinel apiaries are to be provided with information packs which will contain details on the Asian hornet and guidelines on how to make simple traps to catch it. "It is anticipated that some of the beekeepers who are volunteering to operate the sentinel apiaries will also monitor for this pest. By doing this Bee Health Inspectors hope to raise awareness of these threats to bees among beekeepers and improve their ability to inspect their own hives.
Information packs will also highlight actions beekeepers can take to minimise introduction and changes they need to consider to their beekeeping should any of these pests become established," the spokesman said.
He warned that the queens have a "wide range of commodities" they use for hibernating and which are not connected with beekeeping. Potential pathways for the introduction into Ireland or Britain include, but aren't limited to, wood and bark, ceramic garden pottery, soil associated with plant trade and freight containers.
Beekeepers and members of the public who suspect they have found an Asian hornet can file a report and/or upload a picture on the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) webpage at http://www.brc.ac.uk/risc/alert. php?species=asian_hornet.
In the Republic, anyone who believes they have seen an Asian hornet should contact the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine on 01 6072 000 or via email atbeekeeping@agriculture.gov.ie.