Asian hornets principle explains how main menace to UK bees acquired right here
As scientists confirm Asian hornets have survived a UK winter for the first time ever, this theory explains how the buzzy pests arrived in Blighty.
Asian hornets have been spreading across Europe, invading environments and decimating honeybee populations and posing as a threat to biodiversity.
The tiny killers arrived in France more than 20 years go, and have now spread across the continent. Native to south-east Asia, the predators, known as Vespa Velutina, are thought to have arrived to the continent via Bordeaux in a shipping container carrying pottery from China, reports The Mirror.
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The pests, which now cost the French economy an estimated €30.8million (£26million) each year, soon spread to Italy, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Portugal and the UK.
First spotted in the UK in 2016, the number of sightings has risen sharply — and now scientists have confirmed through DNA testing that the predators have survived a UK winter for the first time ever. This suggests the insects could make Britain one of their permanent homes.
As Italian MEPs recently called for the European Commission to take action over the pests, MEP Salvatore De Meo described the insects ”vicious predators”.
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He added: “Since 2004, this has caused a significant decline in the bee population in some EU countries. This phenomenon jeopardises traditional pollinators, especially the honeybees on which the production of high-quality Italian honey depends, and risks damaging our biodiversity.”
The pests can eat up to 50 bees a day, and live in nests that are able to produce up to 350 queens each. Although 90% of these will die during the winter, every queen that does survive can seed an entire colony of hornets.
The British Beekeepers Association announced they are trying to locate more Asian hornet’s nests before new queens are produced.
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Michele Meridio, the president of the beekeepers’ association in Veneto said Asian hornets attack several beehives at the same time.
He added: “They kill bees at such an incredible speed – dismembering them and bringing the remains back to their own nests to feed their young – that the bees no longer leave their hives.”
Brits are being urged to report sightings of the Asian hornet through the Asian Hornet Watch app to help experts track numbers and help control populations. Asian hornets have orange heads when viewed from the front, and their abdomens are mostly dark with fine yellow stripes and a yellow or orange fourth segment near the base. Their legs have yellow tips.
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