BBKA Forum

British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • 11th September 2020 ... Asian hornet nest in an apple tree was killed near Gosport,

  • Honeybee pests and diseases.
Honeybee pests and diseases.
 #8891  by Chrisbarlow
 17 Sep 2020, 08:22
From nbu website


An Asian hornet nest in an apple tree was killed near Gosport, Hampshire on Friday 11th September. The nest was small, approximately 20cm in diameter and monitoring will continue in the area.

Further information regarding the Asian hornet can be found on our Asian hornet page on BeeBase and on Defra's 2020 Asian Hornet sightings page.
 #8894  by AndrewLD
 17 Sep 2020, 09:23
This is very interesting news and the small size of the nest matches those in previous NBU reports. It means that the nest has not progressed into a full size main nest. Some will optimistically query whether the queen was mated properly but the fact that this is becoming our norm must point to the asian hornet finding it a struggle to get properly established.
I was reading only yesterday that just across the channel in the departments of Pas-de-Calais and Nord - their nest numbers are very low and they too think the hornet is struggling. Keep your fingers crossed :D
 #8901  by AndrewLD
 17 Sep 2020, 19:46
Chrisbarlow wrote:
17 Sep 2020, 14:58
It's a nice thought to think it struggles in northern France and the UK but I suspect it'll adapt very quickly.
You are of course absolutely correct and there are already signs of adaption; for example, nests are now much lower than in the early years. However, there is a limit to the amount of adaption a species can do in a given period. We are now in the realms of climate change but even the most pessimistic forecasts predict a change over years (albeit accelerating). The hornet arrived in northern France in 2016 and although it is present, it is not a significant nuisance except in the occasional "hornet" years.
None of this means we can relax but at least we are not facing the tsunami that other parts of France and Spain have faced. We have time to get our act together and by the looks of it, we'll need that time.