Drones part of the strategy
Rhineland-Palatinate sets up task force for Asian hornets
An Asian Hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) is restrained with a gloved hand by a biologist. The invasive species has recently spread more and more in Rhineland-Palatinate.
© Source: Axel Heimken/dpa
The Rhineland-Palatinate Beekeepers’ Association is concerned about the growing spread of Asian Hornets. Since autumn there has been “in places massive flights by the invasive species, which prefers to eat honey bees,” said Chairman Thomas Hock. “The first beekeepers are complaining about the loss of entire colonies.” The beekeepers are hoping for the country’s support in containing the species.
The situation has changed dramatically in the past year, said a spokesman for the Ministry of the Environment in Mainz. A task force on Asian hornets is planned in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture. A strategic plan should also include the development and testing of drones to find and fight the hornets.
The information was collected at a conference held by the beekeepers’ association on the Asian hornets in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse at the beginning of February. Vespa velutina, as the species is scientifically called, is at home in southern China and probably came to Europe via the transport of goods. In 2004 she performed in France for the first time. There is now evidence in Spain, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. In Germany, the Asian hornet was first detected in 2014 in Waghäusel north of Karlsruhe.
Last year she was spotted in front of schools and playgrounds in Worms, said Hock. Individual colonies have also been reported from Frankenthal and Hauenstein in the Southwest Palatinate. The northernmost find in Rhineland-Palatinate was registered near Osthofen
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“She can fly like a dragonfly,” Hock said. Standing in the air, they besiege the flight hole of beehives. “It can be so severe that bees no longer leave the hive.” As a “general predator”, the Asian hornet also eats wasps, bumblebees or wild bees. Their diet also includes pears, apples and grapes.
“The species has an extremely high distribution potential,” says Hock. The Asian hornet builds two nests, first a primary nest in spring at low altitude. The colony then moves out to a secondary nest built in a tall tree, the size of a football and housing up to 5,000 hornets, including a few hundred queens.
The difficulty in efforts to contain further spread begins with detecting the secondary nests, Hock explained. He hopes to use drones to find the nests from above. “Then the entrance hole could be closed and the colony rendered harmless.” Since Vespa velutina is on the EU list of invasive species, the authorities have to fight it as soon as a nest is discovered.
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