[cloddopper]

I've been reading about the latest threat to honey bees today .. a continental hornet/wasp  that is expected to get a foot hold in the UK in the next couple of years .
Five stings can make an adult very ill indeed ..
Apparently several people on the continent have died from anaphylactic shock occasioned by their stings .

 Anyone know if they can get through a round wire queen excluder , for current estimates are each hornet will kill at least 50 bees a day .

 The article mentioned them swarming .... sound a bit nasty .

[Bionic]

Clodhopper,
Just copied this for you
 
As many of you know, the Asian hornet, Vespa velutina, is a predator of honey
bees and other beneficial insects. It has recently extended its geographical
range from Asia to mainland Europe following an accidental introduction to
France, and is now also present in Spain, Belgium, Portugal and Italy. Adult
hornets are highly mobile; the rate of spread across France is approximately 100
km/year. There is concern that this exotic insect could reach the UK, either by
hitching a ride on imported goods or simply by flying across the Channel.

The message to Beekeepers from the NBU is as follows:

• Now is the ideal time of year to look out for emerging queens, who can build
new nests;
• Make sure you know how to recognise Asian hornets – a very helpful ID sheet
can be downloaded from the NNSS website at http://www.nonnativespecies.org/alerts/index.cfm?id=4
• Know where to report sightings: alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk
• Our best defence against the Asian hornet is to quickly detect any arrivals
and prevent them from establishing;
• Trapping is expected to aid this;
• Please visit the Asian hornet pages on BeeBase click here to read updated
guidance for beekeepers, including information on early monitoring and trap
design. You can also access the full Response Plan through these pages.

[MAK]

Just to add to Sally's useful information
- Here in France the Asian Hornet is devastating bee populations. The asian bees will swarm the hornet as their combined heat will boil the hornet alive ( they have different boiling points). The european bees have no deffence and the hornet can clear a hive of 60-70 k bees in a day.
2 people died from a single hornet attack in our region last summer. Terrible story.

Last night we had a massive ( maybe a queen) Asian hornet in our house - very scary !! 

[cloddopper]

Thanks folks ..so it's not newspaper off the wall scare story .
 Prevention is going to be a lot better than cure I suspect.
 

Maybe even to the extent of encasing hives in fine mesh stainless steel wrap around meshing cage and putting a small round stainles steel  bar mouse guard on the front of the hive entrances so that the hornet's can't gain  entry ..

It's something to consider well before hand , for like Varroa once it gets a foot hold bee keepers are going to be very hard hit indeed .

[HesterF]

It's a good suggestion - we need something like a queen excluder but with a slightly larger mesh so the drones can get through (and queens for that matter). Apparently they're most likely to cross around here (unless they stowaway, I guess) so we have been warned to look out for them.

H

[OhLaLa]

Frelons (Hornets): Keep mouse excluders on the doorways all year round.


Hornet/Wasp Trap:
Cut a plastic bottle in half, turn the top half upside down.
[size=78%]Push into the lower half. Half fill with water, add a teaspoon of jam into the water. Place the bottles around the Apiary, in trees etc. Wasps, Hornets will get stuck in them, bees not interested.[/size]
[/size]
[/size][size=78%]I got stung by a Hornet a few years back. 1 sting - large area on arm swelled, red and solid and hot to touch, much larger area affected than by a bee sting. Anthisan immediately applied. Stayed swollen for days. Very painful.[/size]
[/size]
[/size][size=78%]Argh! Font problems - typing this on an iPad![/size]