Netting

Some French beekeepers have opted to ‘net’ their hives by putting their hives inside the equivalent of a fruit cage. It seems such an obvious thing to do, but unlike the other apiary/hive defence measures that I have included in my plan, I have been unable to obtain a clear consensus that it is successful. In fact, two beekeepers whose blog I followed trialled one for a year and decided it did not work, so the jury is out.

The use of nets does not seem to be the same deterrent to the hornet as that offered by the ‘museliere’, which is much closer in to the guard force. So, a net that is coarse enough to allow the bee unhindered access also allows the hornet to enter and hawk inside the net. If I were forced down this route I would try a fine net; one that excludes the hornet. However, it would have to be far enough out from the hive that its total area compensated for the problems found with the fine mesh ‘museliere’ (i.e. hornets picking off the bees as they negotiate the mesh).

Autumn trapping of ‘sexuals’; a final chance

In late-September to November ‘sexual’ male and female hornets emerge in the hundreds.  The males die after mating or perish with workers as winter sets in. the nest is abandoned and will not be reused; it will be destroyed by the birds and the elements over winter. The queens must find somewhere to hibernate and they fly long distances to do so. Their need for that flight and the forthcoming hibernation is carbohydrate feed, which is difficult to find at that time of year.

The value of trapping queens in autumn is debateable as 95% are estimated to die over winter. However, an exceptionally mild winter could mean even more foundress queens survive to the spring. So, on the basis that in this war of attrition one should leave no practical weapon in the armoury unused, we should implement autumn trapping.

The bait is carbohydrate and tests by the INRA identified pure apple juice as a good choice. Avoid juice made from concentrate or sweetened with artificial sweeteners. Last September, in the wake of the Tetbury incident, I trialled various juice baits in funnel traps. Orange juice was no good, using blackcurrant alone only attracted flies, but pure 100% natural apple juice was very popular with my local European hornets (later released) and it also confirmed the feasibility of using the two-stage trap, described previously.