The latest French departement to report on the 2019 Asian Hornet situation is Morbihan (Brittany). It's a report i await each year with eager anticipation because Morbihan has been at the forefront of the collective fight since 2015. The figures for 2019 show a drop of reported nest numbers back to 2015 levels reflecting the impact of late spring frosts on the hornets' first nests (nid primaire) and the June/July heatwaves on main (secondary) nests. Combined with a very active nest destruction campaign and Spring trapping this reduction of 30% on last year shows the effectiveness of an integrated approach to the pest.
Of particular note however is that 67% of nests were found below 5 metres and only 29% were found in trees and shrubs. The overall picture is that the hornet is fast evolving to become an urban pest that is looking for more sheltered locations closer to the ground and all of this means it is coming more and more into contact with humans.
As the tendency of the French government has been to pass the Asian Hornet off as a problem for beekeepers, who alone cannot mount and fund nest destruction campaigns on the scale required, this increasing proximity to the general population will cause a demand for public-funded campaigns to continue - so there is a silver lining to the cloud.
Of particular note however is that 67% of nests were found below 5 metres and only 29% were found in trees and shrubs. The overall picture is that the hornet is fast evolving to become an urban pest that is looking for more sheltered locations closer to the ground and all of this means it is coming more and more into contact with humans.
As the tendency of the French government has been to pass the Asian Hornet off as a problem for beekeepers, who alone cannot mount and fund nest destruction campaigns on the scale required, this increasing proximity to the general population will cause a demand for public-funded campaigns to continue - so there is a silver lining to the cloud.