The sight of my empty monitoring traps stacked forlornly in the corner of the garden prompts me to alert everyone to the fact that any over-wintering asian hornet queens can be emerging as early as mid-February (or as soon as the temperature gets to 10-12 degC for 5-6 days). So along with spring preparations in the apiary it will soon be time to clean them out and put apple juice on the shopping list; that is pressed apple juice (NOT from concentrate).
If you were wondering what happened last year (2019), so were the French Nest numbers were generally down along the western side from Brittany to the North of France by 50%; and that is being attributed to the two heatwaves last summer. In this country, record February temperatures were followed by the Beast from the East and a generally damp cool spring, which will have drawn them out of hibernation only to fail at the "first-nest" stage.
Let's see what happens this year
If you were wondering what happened last year (2019), so were the French Nest numbers were generally down along the western side from Brittany to the North of France by 50%; and that is being attributed to the two heatwaves last summer. In this country, record February temperatures were followed by the Beast from the East and a generally damp cool spring, which will have drawn them out of hibernation only to fail at the "first-nest" stage.
Let's see what happens this year