Looking out at the torrential rain and howling wind, it is amazing to think that only yesterday I was battling huge numbers of wasps attacking my hives and invading my bee shed. My bees were successfully defending themselves, but my shed was full of wasps.
I put up two traps with Trappit as bait. In 30 minutes I had caught five European hornets and loads of wasps. I ended up with the traps in my bee shed to stop catching the hornets. Trappit is a fantastic attractant and I have supplies if anyone wants some.
With regard to the Asian hornet, sexually active queens will be being produced in numbers and now is a crucial time to monitor or trap them. Please put up traps or monitoring stations if the weather permits and report any suspicious sightings. I will happily come and identify suspicious insects if there is a chance of spotting an Asian hornet. Equally a photograph is very useful In preventing a wasted trip.
The BBKA has planned a press and social media campaign for Asian Hornet Week 7th– 13th September 2020. One of our aims is to engage the public to download the Asian hornet watch app onto their phones so they have the information ready to hand to identify and report sightings of Asian hornets and particularly nests, as we move into autumn.
There is a page on the BBKA website on the link below that has more information: https://www.bbka.org.uk/Event/asian-hornet-week-2020
Follow the BBKA on social media and share their posts during Asian Hornet Week to help reach more people:
https://twitter.com/britishbee
https://www.facebook.com/TheBritishBeekeepersAssociation/
https://www.instagram.com/britishbeekeepers/
I have also got some specimens of the Asian and European hornet to show to interested parties (or anyone who stands still for long enough) as it is very easy to see the difference when they are side by side. When we are next allowed to meet I will bring them along.
Peter Crabbe AHAT Co-ordinator