BBKA Forum

British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • Asian Hornet Week - Asian Hornet Week, 10th - 16th September,

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #137  by DianeBees
 26 Jul 2018, 18:04
Asian Hornet Week is 10th - 16th September,
This gives us a great opportunity to share awareness of the Asian Hornet and the threat it poses to both bee and other pollinator populations.

It's important to remember that if we are to have any chance of stopping Asian Hornets from becoming established in the UK all Beekeepers, AHATs and local BKAs need to be prepared and spend periods of time being on the look out for Asian Hornets at apiaries throughout this autumn.

You can find the Devon Asian Hornet Guidance Protocols here -

Guidance For beekeepers
http://www.devonbeekeepers.org.uk/asian ... eekeepers/

Guidance for branches
http://www.devonbeekeepers.org.uk/asian ... -branches/

How to obtain a sample
http://www.devonbeekeepers.org.uk/asian ... -a-sample/

The Asian Hornet Poster can be downloaded from the NBU here
http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/download ... fm?id=1224

Please take this message to your branch and the beekeepers you know.
 #163  by Colin Lodge
 29 Jul 2018, 14:35
NIgel Semmence , Contingency Planning and Science Officer,NBU has advocated in his article in the August Issue of BBKA News that "local associations could set up responsible people to follow up local reports of Asian Hornets and ensure correc identification". this is exactly the function of an AHAT (Asian Hornet Action Team) and there are more than twenty of these in the southwest and south of England all listed on the AHAT directory at WWW.ahat.org.uk .

We need the country as a whole to be covered by such AHATs and it has always been our hope that every area BKA would set a team up under the aims and principles to be found on the website.

Why not set up an AHAT in your association and notify us on http://ahat.org.uk/contact-us/ in readiness for Asian Hornet Week.

We are fast approaching the time of year when Vespa velutina will be most apparent if it has established colonies in your area through accidental importations or spread of founding queens from the same source which possibly originated the insect found and recorded in Bury. I am personally optimistic that no flying workers will be found and we will avoid for another year the establishment of V.v in the UK, but we can not afford to be complacent and must have a well prepared and enthusiastic network of watchers in every county of the nation who are also prepared to inform the public of what to look for and to help them confirm and report to CEH if they do indeed find Asian Hornets or one of their nests

Colin Lodge
Lead, Torbay AHAT