How they worked with uh rapping now streaming on YouTube by the way um and and what he was telling us was very interesting on on seeing how they deal with Asian Hornets over in the Channel Islands so I just asked wondered whether you’d come across him or not that was all no
Um I think to be honest we ought to just skip this sort of question right now while I test the screen share works with Diane um otherwise we’ll hold up the whole meeting later on and then we’ll do all the questions at the end um but the
There’s a more complicated answer to the question you’re answering I suspect so I I think I’ll just park that for the moment if you don’t mind thank you Andrew right Diane let me do a screen share no I’m disabled so that’s the bit you need to enable hang on let Me right you’re co-host now right let’s try yep so ah it’ll be that one okay right good all right so that would give you a that will give you a picture of a asan Hornet full screen is that correct that’s correct that’s your starting slide right so and I need to get that
Moved over to there sorry we normally have a kind of bit at the beginning where we get this sort of thing sorted out so um everybody’s so Keen they’ve obviously all come straight into it so let’s have a go with that now what’s happened there good I’m ready to go when you are
Diane um Okie do and I think this is going to take about 40 minutes 45 minutes and then we can do the questions I’m just adding the link for the YouTube live to the web page in case we reach capacity and I’ve sent it to Ian
Um yet is it what time are we on now my watch has stopped oh it’s 1856 oh we’ve got a couple of minutes um yeah we shouldn’t start before seven should we No isn’t quite seven wonder why I lost it something in the diary who’s that with Jane having a cup of tea oh Annie Hardwick hello hello hi hello yes the the YouTube live will be there for you to watch later and last time I looked which admittedly was about
A month and a half ago we’d had over n and a half thousand views of the the previous YouTube videos do you mean both of them between them yeah okay it’s his it’s it’s a line it’s a line in the email for some reason if people have have got messages
Off people who can’t get in I have just uploaded the YouTube L go in again and the problem is if I go out I might not get back I know I know I know chair I will put the link in the chat if you’ve got people messaging you
Because that we have now reached capacity on the zoom account give them that link and they can watch It I will get it out on the Facebook as well Dian can you suggest that everybody mutes themselves so we don’t get all these Furious voices popping up yes I will do in about two and a half seconds I’m just working out how to post something on the B Facebook page
Just so everyone who wants to watch can um this is kkin another of the BBK trustees I’ll try and keep an eye we do ask people to mute themselves but I’ll keep an eye and if um anyone seems if anyone’s mute has come off I will I’m
Afraid mute you and um so that we can all concentrate and hear and hear Andrew thanks CL right I’ve got it going but we have to be quiet right I think we are at 7:00 so thank you all very much for coming and thank you once again to Andrew for agreeing so kindly to do a talk for us this Talk’s called a special briefing
For beekeepers with an update for 2024 so over to you Andrew please well good evening I’ve been asked by the bbka to date special briefings that I gave last September in nation Hornet week the two special briefings are still there on YouTube for your reference alternatively there are PDFs
On the bbka website under branch and Association resources this is an update not a substitute for those briefings but it is an opportunity to refresh memories on some key points so I will start by updating you on the Asian Hornet situation in France and Belgium we’ll see what that means for us this
Year I want to revisit those honeybee Colony losses in France that I talked about in part one of the briefing last September and to address accounts being presented in this country concerning the adequacy of TR I can’t listen I can’t hear the audio uh Diane can you hear me all
Right Diane you can hear you yes sorry I’ve muted myself yes I can hear you okay so that’s just loud and clear from Chesterfield okay so that’s um beekeeper defenses against the um uh beekeeper defenses in the AY and as part of that we’re going to revisit
Three core defenses in the AY we’ll also have a look at a recent report into the first year in operation of the new uh 22 French national fight against the Hornet that was commissioned by the National Organization of be Health associations there are lessons there to be learned for us in the
UK uh just a reminder the material in this briefing is copyright so please don’t copy it now last September I went into some detail on the sources for these briefings so tonight I’m just going to give you a quick reminder the information on the situation in Belgium
On on the nests in particular comes primarily from two databases Vesper watch for Flanders the area above that red line and from the wonan public service to the area below the red line information on Nest numbers and Nest densities comes from the nest destruction campaigns operating in a
Number of depart the loot collectives as they’re known meaning Collective fight or struggle I draw on reports from the beekeeping associations in various departments and from the entirely separate be Health associations known as the gdsa whose function is broadly comparable to that of RB inspectors but they are volunteers and I draw your
Attention to the highlighted passage there where one gdsa was expressing concern that beekeepers were getting disaffected with the collective fight in addition to input from scientific studies I subscribe to three National beekeeping organizations in France the main beekeeping Union UNF the national B Farmers Syndicate the sna and
Lastly the National Organization of bee Health associations this map is showing the limit of the Asian Hall its expansion as of the 5th of January it is produced by the museum National de Hisar naturel the French government’s Chief advisor on the Hornet it’s simply shows where the haet
Had been reported and so colonized is not the correct term for us in the UK although usually arrival quickly leads to colonization now starting in the wnia region of Belgium let’s go back to the situation in 2021 and see how it developed just ignore the yellow dots because they were sightings of
Individual Hornets the blue dots were confirmed nests and the color light blue indicated that the nests had been destroyed up to and including 2021 there had been a small but persistent Asian Hornet population that was being controlled by the wonan authorities The Hornet had arrived in Belgium in 2016 by expansion through
France the same year incidentally that it arrived in t glou share but there is a significant difference between what had happened here and what had happened across the channel our arrivals were hitchhikers on freight on feries or even in caravan awnings the odds were very much Against The Hitchhiker but with the
Arrival by natural expansion the sheer numbers mean the odds of establishment were very much in the Hornets favor the winter of 2021 into 2022 was unusually mild lots more asan I Hornet foundresses survived hibernation furthermore an early warm spring in 2022 got them off to a good
Start and there were no frosts which normally kills off a lot of the Hornets early nests this combination of weather saw a huge surge in Nest numbers in both France and Belgium I showed you the report for the end of 2022 and asked you to notice how many
Nests were in dark blue which indicated that the nests had not been destroyed many Belgian beekeepers were caught by surprise and lost colonies across the border in France in the par Cal Department it was reported that all Apes were affected by Asian Hornet predation and then came the triple whammy the Autumn of
2022 was unusually warm in fact October was a record year for temperature in wona that extended the Hornets breeding season and even more foundress Queens emerged to mate and go into hibernation ready to emerge in 2023 a surge year has always been followed in the past by a drop in Nest
Numbers as a consequence of a return to more normal weather patterns but at the beginning of 2023 we were seeing unusually warm weather and our Met Office was warning that with the waning of the cooling lania effect in the Pacific we were likely to see a record warm year
Globally and that has proved to be the case and the Met Office was right globally 2023 was the warmest year on record this was the report up to the end of 2023 and again notice how many nests are in dark blue even if the numbers haven’t gone up obviously in wnia they have
Stayed at a high level it’s been a similar story in France some departments seeing the same high number of nests although other departments have seen a reduction for example Munch in Normandy went down from 10,000 nests to 7,000 nests which is 70% of the 2022 figures nevertheless they’re still 2,000 Nest up
On their normal figure of 5,000 October is a key month for Asian Hornet reproduction and in Belgium the first 10 days of last October were once again unseasonably warm the middle 10 days saw more normal October weather the last 10 days were very wet and windy and of course mild you’ll remember storm
Kieran at the end of October now we have to see what has carried over into this year and what this year’s weather turns out to be but the Met Office tells us it’s likely to be yet another world record warm year as the warming effect of El Nino gets into
Its cycle so will we see a third year at these high numbers of nests now I want to transfer across to Flanders and Northern Belgium there they have had a further surge in Nest numbers so they’ve had two surge years one following another coming up on screen
Now is the Asian hornet nest position as at the end of October 2023 over 4,200 reported nests in four years Flanders has gone from 30 reported nests to over 4,000 now in the early stages of establishment with an abundance of prey no competition It’s Not Unusual to see
Nest numbers triple quadruple or even more what is unusual is that it has happened on this scale in Belgium an area thought to be a bit marginal for the Hornet that’s down to these weather-driven surge years coming one on top of the other creating a situation in which a previously marginal area mimics
A more favorable area further south but we cannot be 100% sure on this climatic effect it could be competition that’s driving the Hornet North perhaps France is becoming unsuitable in areas for the Hornet or a lack of prey which would be very worrying indeed very few of the nests you are
Seeing on screen now have been destroyed and a recent development is that reports indicate the belgians only intend to destroy nests located lower than 5 MERS furthermore there are signs that the French are going to adopt the same policy but whereas with the belgians they are not convinced about the damage
To biodiversity with the French it’s a pure cost-saving measure if these reports are correct and the weather pattern doesn’t change we can expect to see a sharp rise in Nest numbers in both France and Belgium rather like the rise we saw after the fet’s first arrival in Southwest France in
2004 a tripling of the 2022 numbers and that’s in an area of 12,000 Square kilm twice the area of the normal French departments that I look at twice the area of Devon furthermore you can see that a greater proportion of those nests are in the Western half of
Flanders so just slice that down the middle look at the leftand side and imagine you were looking at a map of Devon but let’s keep this in perspective viewed as a whole Flanders is at a quarter to a third of the nest density that beekeepers have to deal with with
In Britany and Western Normandy now before we leave Belgium there’s something I need to point out this was the city of mons in southern Belgium towards the end of last October notice how many uh reports are focused around roads and areas of population there’s all that area to the south and
East that has relatively few reports which you can now see is Countryside whilst the loot collectives in France believe there are more nests in urban and Suburban areas it is in the countryside that nests are much more likely to lay lie undetected and it is in the countryside that nests are less
Likely to be reported so do not confuse reported Nest numbers with actual Nest numbers reported Nest numbers is still a real figure but it’s only a baseline to work from the French and the belgians have no real idea how many Asian hornet nests they actually have which is why there is
A drive going on to try and get that information now as I said just now prior to 2022 it was hitchhikers coming across to the UK there were not that many Hornets in the par de Cal Department Belgium or Holland but that has now changed so we
Are going to see an increase in hitchhiker incursions into the UK this year because we have many many more hornet nests around the main ports that serve our London and East Coast ports and there are increasing numbers of Hornets in the par the Cal which is
Where the bulk of our lorri and carferry traffic comes in in addition Kent is within easy flying distance of any hornets from Lou to Dunkirk so Kent is going to Bear the brunt of this and if my apry was in Kent I’d have have apri defenses in my apri
Ready to put in place by July by that I mean the melier and the entrance restrictor that we’ll be looking at and I’d certainly seal off the underneath of the hive as I talked about in part two of the briefing now there will continue to be The odge Hitchhiker incursions into the
South and Southwest they are dangerous because the climate in the far south and Southwest is getting steadily closer to matching that of Normandy where the densities are much higher than in Belgium for example and we have an open question on whether these years of untypical weather will go
Back to normal whatever normal now is now of the 70 plus nests destroyed by the mbu last year seven nests were destroyed after the 12th of October which as I said is a critical month for the emergence of sexuals two of those nests were actually destroyed in November
By which time the reproduction pattern is usually ending so any foundresses that emerged and M prior to the nest being destroyed would have already left the nest and will be emerging this spring the natural spread of the Hornet is about 80 kilm or 50 miles a year so
There is a possibility I’ll see the hornet in South cambrid here this year more likely the one after there’s certainly no room for complacency now I’d like to talk about honeybee Colony losses as a result of Asian Hornet predation and I want to talk about some of the beekeeper
Accounts of dealing with the Hornet that are now being given over here in talks lectures on YouTube Etc I’m sure these accounts are intended to heighten awareness and to encourage us to take the threat very seriously but they need to be seen in context and often they come from those suffering the worst
Losses beekeepers in France s are facing significant and serious challenges climate change has resulted in droughts and heat waves in some areas nectar flows that would previously be relied upon to last through the summer are stopping by July honey harvests are fluctuating widely from year to year having a severe effect on beekeepers
Incomes the latest blow is that French wholesalers are declining to buy French honey in favor of chimp cheap imports from China and Eastern Europe the financial viability of beekeeping is under threat and there is even talk of seeking emergency aid from the state an increase in the use of pesticides in
Recent years is alarming beekeepers adding to the same problems pathogen problems that we have added to that the usual veroa treatments seem to be failing causing increased Colony losses on top of all these pressures comes the Asian Hornet causing losses that require beekeepers to invest in defenses some of which are
Expensive reports indicate that most beekeepers go for the simpler and more affordable defenses trusting that they will suffice and in normal years they may do so but not not in these recent surge years that have seen Nest numbers at record levels and know which are happening more
Often the Asian Hornet is the proverbial straw that can break the camel’s back and that’s why Christian pwn the president of UNF referred to some areas where The Beekeeper where Asian Hornet pation was prevalent becoming unviable for beekeeping now last September in part one of the briefing I told you about the
Winter mortality survey of honeybee colonies carried out by the esa it’s been going since 2018 all beekeepers are canvased and about a third that’s over 20,000 beekeepers fill in the survey you can see that winter Colony losses percentages rather vary enormously across the country and there doesn’t
Appear to be a direct correlation with the presence of the Asian Hornet obviously the percentage you’re looking at do not include pre-winter losses which in the Autumn of 2022 were severe in some areas of heavy Hornet predation to get any perspective on these individual accounts that are now
Appearing in this country you have to know not just from what department the report originates you need to know the degree of hornet investation and you need to know what else happened in that department because other factors are also behind the losses being reported now if I take Britany as an
Example of this because I have uh reports from all the sources I mentioned at the very beginning based on the reports from the loote collectives in Britany the three departments along the North Coast all destroyed pretty much the same number of nests yet there is almost double the
Loss in that one Department in the middle the coater Mo I think I mentioned last time that in the apris with 50 or more hives that department had the fifth highest winter losses out of all 100 odd Mainland departments even within that one Department there were marked differences between beekeepers with different sized
Apies reflecting the fact that the bee Farmers had a really tough year not just with the drought but especially with losses attributed by them to veroa much as one can sympathize with our fellow beekeepers in that department that is not representative of the wider situation but there’s another aspect to
These accounts from France I was very concerned recently to hear a beekeeper declare in his presentation on the Hornet that there is no solution to the Asian Hornet they’ve tried everything nothing works not even the m not even the melier nor the harp elect Tre if what that beekeeper meant by no
Solution he meant no single solution then he’s correct integrated control is a combination of measures put into effect at the correct time the aim of which is to reduce the problem to a level at which losses are well acceptable would be the wrong word at least are
Sustainable in part two of my briefing last September I gave the sources for the briefing on defenses they included the beekeeping associations and the be Health associations I showed you the apy of the friends of the bees of the valois just above Paris in which they have tested
Defenses both the muzzle and the electric harp have been subject to Scientific field trials in Spain and we can draw on that research and I also told you that I’m in regular contact with one leading manufacturer of electric Harps ARA electrica as they’re called in Spain and they devote part of
Their website to advice on trapping and deployment of their arpas I urge you to go and look at this site the main French beekeeping Union UNF the be Farmers Syndicate the sna and the National Bee Health Association have all issued guidance on dealing with the Hornet and they include in their
Measures the use of the melier and the har nevertheless the accounts from Individual beekeepers will still leave a nagging doubt in the mind so is it the case that none of the defenses work that there is no solution well coincidently when I was hearing this report I was sent a link to
A French National Organization for be Health associations survey which had been commission to find out how the first Year’s operation of a new National fight against the Hornet had gone the survey didn’t just look at that it also reported on what beekeepers were doing to fight the Hornet and pretty much all
All the be Health associations had contributed to it it reported that just over half of beekeepers are using the melier only 15% though are using the expensive har electric so think back to what I said regarding the context to these losses and the financial situation that is driving beekeepers
Decisions surprisingly it reported that for spring trapping 90% of beekeepers were not using the most selective traps or were not using the most attractive baits 54% of beekeepers needed an update on Hornet biology and 22% needed more information on the construction of electric harves the report said that many beekeeping associations would spend
The winter building harps on a more positive note the report says that 64% of responses for spring trapping were positive and that it was possible to demonstrate a 50% reduction in reported nests in areas where this was carried out so carried out properly there’s a measure that works melier were
Reported to be an inexpensive and effective investment with beekeepers reporting that the bees resumed their normal activities using the melier and the harp Electrique in combination was said to be perfect in terms of efficiency and selectivity with a strong drop in stress on the colonies with specific regard to The
Harp and even if only 15% are using them the report notes there is high user satisfaction so let’s just remind ourselves of the key features of these three core defenses measures and perhaps I can identify where some of the reported dissatisfaction with them may be arising The Hornet guard is a last ditch
Defense to keep Hornets out of the hive it is like the drawbridge on a castle keep in a Siege it does nothing to stop predation losses Outside The Hive nor does it deal with the hidden Damage Done by predation you cannot rely on this defense alone but some beekeepers try to
Do just that and do not confuse the green 5.5 mil Hornet guard with the white mouse guard which has an 8.5 mil entrance The Hornet can easily get through those I keep seeing hives that are either wide open or with white guards on them when it is obvious that
There is heavy predation and the bees are beard ing the front of the hive in full defensive mode those beekeepers have not understood what is happening according to a four-year scientific study the melier definitely works in reducing stress and restoring foraging but some perform better than others and we must recognize that some
Beekeepers are relying on brambles and chicken wire and it’s important to understand the melier is a compromise if the mesh is small say 6 millim by 6 millim so the Hornet cannot get in then foraging is affected and the bees can get picked off while they try
To get through it the larger 25 MIM by 25 MIM mesh I think that’s 1 inch by 1 inch in Old English currency is far less of a hindrance to the bees getting in and out and thus helps with foraging but with bigger holes there is an increased
Risk the Hornets will go through the middle option 12 1/2 mil by 12 1/2 mil is between the two but nevertheless the Hornet may go through later in the season especially if the colony has clustered and there’s no guard Force which is why you must use the entrance
Restrictor with the two larger mesh sizes but used at the appropriate time that’s why you must keep an eye on what is happening now we come to The Harp and it really is a game changer but there can be several problems most Harps in France are homemade and if they are not built
Correctly they suffer reliability issues UNF warned about this in their 2016 guidance having built four hops myself and tested them over an extended period built to French designs I can tell you the key to success is to use the right materials such as stainless steel bars rather than galvanized the right wire
For the grid especially in this country good electrical connections the right insulation spacing and tension on the wires is vital furthermore some think the high the voltage on the grid the better it works but that is not true I’m updating my technical paper that is lodged on the bbka website uh so that
You can get more information there furthermore it is very important indeed that the harps are placed correctly again unaf highlighted the importance of correct positioning a major mistake is putting them too close to the hive entrance attention to this sort of detail is absolutely essential the alternative to
Using the harp is bait trapping but that is not without its problems remember the Hornet follows all Factory Clues and bait trapping attracts Hornets that may not have found the AP otherwise inra The Institute uh the National Institute for agricultural research I think it does a little bit
More than that now took the traps out of their apries because they concluded that the more traps they put out the more Hornets they had in the AY in this January’s issue of the sna magazine there’s a major article by Dr Dennis Cher of inray and four other
Authors on the benefits of the harp in which he reports quite spectacular results from a 2-year trial and an INR apry they are continuing their research and are now looking at refining the positioning of the harps which I’m delighted to hear because there is a much better position to the one you see
There in the photograph that before you try to rush off and buy what is an expensive unit and I think Thorns are selling one at300 you need to think exactly what it is you’re trying to do some a will have Main’s power available or close by so
You wouldn’t need to buy a version that has a solar panel if you only needed two Harps you might decide just to power both Harps off one high voltage unit and power that off a battery that you charge up once a fortnite as in this example here the
Risk with using one HV unit to power more than one harp lots of beekeepers do this is firstly leakage in the high voltage wiring so you have to keep the wires separated and off the ground and if one harp shorts out the others are useless if you have more Harps as in
This scenario it makes more sense to have a central solar panel unit that delivers a low voltage say 5vt power supply to all the harps Fe ing individual high voltage units and note that because my Zappa back unit is so cheap all my Harps have their own high
Voltage units mounted as close to the grid as I can get them my advice is to go onto a website such as sandve and have a look at the different options there’s some great research from Spain to prove the value of the harp now what I want to look at now
Briefly is the loot Collective the collective struggle or fight it’s the departmental wide Ness destruction scheme that is waged in a number of French Department initially nests were dealt with in many departments by the pompier of fire brigade That Couldn’t last and so some departments organized a departmental scheme that was either
Partially or wholly publicly subsidized one such scheme was operated by the department of morahan the department that last time I told you is unusual because as well as Nest destruction it also carries out organized large scale spring trapping to the end of May you can see the year-to-year fluctuations caused by the
Effect of the weather this is one of the most successful loot collectives and it certainly reduces The Nest problem even if it cannot solve it I can tell you that year after year morban has far fewer nests than the three French Departments of adjacent to it probably 30 to 40% fewer
Nests but these schemes are starting to fail because they are expensive and the year-to-year fluctuations are too much for public finances to tolerate and so in France a new National plan was rolled out in 2022 masterminded by GDs franch the overarching uh Animal Health Organization the problem is it is a plan
On paper with no funding attached and a very poor substitute for the previous publicly subsidized schemes the real work relies on volunteer effort focused at departmental level on the be Health associations which are quite small and the beekeeping associations and it is reliant on the local schemes being able
To raise fundings from say local authorities and also to recruit the volunteer reference at commune level that are so essential to the operation of the scheme the volunteer reference are expected not only to carry out the duties of a referen checking nests reporting and authorizing destruction but also to populate databases with the
Additional information required by the scientists they are even expected to analyze the contents of apps every week those requirements are at the heart of the disaffection amongst beekeepers with the collective schemes because they form the bulk of the reference and there is no funding for nest destruction which before the subsidized loot collectives
Came into operation meant the nests were often not destroyed it is very worrying that the report is raising the Spectre of the French 2 only destroying nests located below below 5 m in height now the report says the plan has been implemented in only 40% of departments in some departments the
Fredon the scheme managers under the formal loot Collective schemes are actually just carrying on regardless of those departments only 35% have a departmental refr or steering committee only 42% have implemented spring trapping and they’re only doing trapping for 6 weeks given the staggered emergence of Queens from February to
April I cannot explain that and do not understand it 35% of be Health associations are doing The Nest destruction but that is not necessarily a good thing the key issue there is sustainable effort it is very attractive to wonder if our beekeeping associations could replicate K Jersey’s very well organized
L location and destruction scheme and some associations have sent teams over to the Channel Islands to have a look at track and Trace Etc but let me point out that Jersey is 120 square kilometers compared to say Cambridge 3,000 square kilm 25 times the size or Devon 6,000
Square kilomet or 50 times the size if Cambridge had the same density as Flanders has now we would be destroying a thousand nests a year Devon would be destroying 2,000 Nest a year there were a lot of gdsa or be Health associations in France that took on this role have
Ended up doing all the work with a lack of funding and the heavy hand of reporting imposed at National level I have to ask if that is sustainable now a report in the beef Farmers magazine that was covering a major conference discussing the new scheme the article headlined plan to lot
National Contra fron as La deception which actually means the disappointment I actually prefer deception because this plan is something that look Goods on paper but it deceives you into thinking it’s working now on the eve of a battle that we cannot avoid and must fight to defend
Our colonies we cannot afford to have doubt in our minds nor can we wait for total certainty we must go with what defenses are available because if you do not what are you going to do perhaps the last word should go to Frank allatu the president of The Syndicate National
Appic cultur the National Bee Farmers Union or Syndicate and the president of the European professional bee Farmers Association writing in this January’s editorial of the B the sn’s magazine for years we have advocated the establishment of a collective and selective fight against the Asian Hornet before the arrival of spring then at the
End of the season strengthening the protection of colonies by putting in place effective muscles and New Generation hars note effective muzzles new generation of electric hals and on that note may I just remind you that the special briefings are available on YouTube I suggest now is a good time
To download and spend an hour reading them these papers are sitting there waiting for you your Association really should put them on their website and once again it only remains me to acknowledge and thank the French beekeepers institutes and associations that made the information in this briefing available and I should include
In that Spain as well so thank you very much your attention I think I’ve managed to do that in 40 minutes which is my Target and now I’ll be um happy to answer questions thank you Andrew um we do have a few questions um I saw one just go in um can you
Recommend a spring trap design um I think if I wanted a widescale issue of spring traps I would get the um veto farma yellow trap um and put some 5.5 millimeter Escape slots into it to allow non-target species to escape there are a number of very Posh very recommended
Traps over there the AIG guard and all the rest of it um but they’re extremely expensive 25 I mean one of them is £ 40 for the Trap another is 25 I can’t see that sort of trap having widespread usage and what we desperately need to do
Is to get a very wide coverage of traps so if you want the cheap and cheerful trap you could do the mbus one which I think is quite difficult to build you could make any trap you like as long as it um follows the rules for Selective
Trapping that are outlined in part two um or once again The veto a trap but just make sure the bait that you use is on a sponge or something so it doesn’t become a drowning trap thank you um now someone’s asked when will we receive the report from the
National B unit um on trapping activity they are going to come and speak at the Asian Hornet conference I think that’s February the 17th and give us an update on um the nests from last year um I think we we have to wait till then there will be at Spring
Convention um a full um lecture on the DNA analysis um so if you want to know more about it come to Spring convention there are a couple of people with hands up um Nicola you’ll have to come off mute and then Peter coxon’s next Diane could I
Just um offer a thought on what you’ve just said about the um the mbu report um I can’t preempt what they are going to say but one of the words of caution I would just offer is that year after year we hear from them that there is a very
High number of infertile males and females coming in out of these nests um and it’s always kind of held up as being a almost like a promised Extinction event um just bear in mind the Asian Hornet is expanding rapidly through Europe uh and uh there is in vespid
Colonies a certain degree of infertility that seems to be almost part of their buildup so I wouldn’t put any too too much hope if you hear that there are lots of infertile Queens the key question we need to hear is how many of those nests had queens that were um
Viable and could actually um be capable of mating and reproducing yeah um right Nichola do you want to ask Andrew your question please yes please um good evening Andrew just very quickly do have we had any indication if nbu are going to do spring trapping in Kent and the other areas
That were affected by nests last year um I’m afraid I don’t know I can’t imagine that the Kent B Kent beekeeping Association won’t do spring trapping next year um they had a target of getting a trap into every square kilometer which sounded a really good idea you when you say Kent beekeeping
Association are you talking about Kent the Kent Beekeepers Association because we’ve had nothing from our Ashford Branch about getting trapping in place for spring well um I don’t know what to say if your na if your County Association isn’t doing it I’d start asking why thank you for that I think I
Will are you in the WhatsApp group for the Kent um Asian Hornet team I am I am it’s been very quiet because there’s a couple for Kent um I’m I’m in the Ashford Kent ocean Hornet team WhatsApp group um and I’m also a member of the Ashford Branch
Association and I’m not speaking out of line it was on the Facebook page that Ashford branch have decided that they won’t be trapping this year they’ll only be putting out cards and things there’s no plan to um organize a trapping in the Ashford Kent area is my understanding
And what I’ve seen him writing on Facebook Okay thanks Nicola um I’m not in Kent so I can’t speak on their behalf but I could ask a question to someone who is um Peter coxon’s next thanks yes thank you Dian uh very interesting talk as usual Andrew you mentioned earlier that um beekeepers not using the most
Effective baits or lures now we’re going to be running a workshop in Sussex and high wheel to build lots of um Sentinel traps for early trapping but I’m finding it difficult to identify what are the most effective lures I know they need um carbohydrates in the spring and protein
When they’re raising brood but do you have a recommendation I have a lot of spare Mead floating around I something if that might work well I know the thre this report that came out from the be Health associations um was recommending their standard bait which is dark beer white
Wine and um fruit syrup the worry I have is that the French fruit syrup is extremely aromatic um so I don’t know if you can match it over here um and I I I also uh know that a lot of French beekeepers are using pressed apple juice
Um but I’m not sure whether that now falls into the category of not the most suitable uh material we do know that the Vita farmer bait um is attracted is very good we know that sua works well um so I think I would probably go with one of
Those two um because the situation next year is going to be really really important we can’t afford to get this one wrong thank you um next is Sandra Slater um if you come off M mute I know it’s not Sandra Oh She logged in for me yeah um it’s Tony
Um looking maybe a year or two H and perhaps back into France a bit what what’s the effect on the nonke keeping wider society and from nesting nesting um hornets and what role do the pest control industry have have gospel has two um actually quite involved questions there
Um I spent a lot of time actually in part one last September talking about the effect on French society um if you bear in mind that in large parts of Southwest France up into Western France and up into Britany and Normandy you have um densities of nests
At anything around about 10 to 12 nests per square kilometer in urban and Suburban areas um the effect can be quite marked on the local population um with streets being closed off while they um uh destroy nests um sporting events being affected fun runs cycle rides Etc um I think a good
Example of the sort of Havoc that can be caused uh actually occurred last September um I was hearing of a a primary school in dur SRA which lies between Bordeaux and Britany um just as the children were lining up to be taken into their classes by their teachers um
An Asian hornet nest that nobody had spotted uh in the nearby bushes off the playground suddenly decided to attack they ended up with 10 children stung three members of Staff stung um the Hornets even followed them into the school and the French Emergency Services um responded to this by sending no less
Than 41 immediate responders to the scene uh together with a specialist fire brigade unit um from a nearby Town that’s the sort of event that happens every now and again just remind everybody that even if the Asian Hornet is not um uh aggressive away from the
Nest within five meters or so of its nest if it is Disturbed it will very quickly make a Mass Attack uh the agricultural industry has been quite badly hit especially soft fruit even the um uh the grape industry the um wine Growers has been affected because
One bite from an Asian Hornet lets in great Rock never mind the um stings to the pickers so I wouldn’t underestimate the effect on the civilian population um or the general public I should say um from the Asian Hornet it is a wretched nuisance uh and in fact um people do and
Are stung um I think last time I quoted the figures for 2022 in MCH which is 6,000 square met 6,000 square kilometers size of Devon seems to be a nice Benchmark Devon um 384 people being stung if I remember it was one person got 30 stings
Survived um I think 10 got over got no I think it was 30 people got more than 10 stings one person got 30 stings um nobody died but people do die every year from the Asian Hornet there is something about it Venom that um that seems to provoke an anaphylactic re reaction
Rather quicker than we would normally expect with vespids so it’s a serious problem now the second half of your question was all about um the pest controllers and I’m really glad you’ve asked that because I don’t think we can afford to continue to employ our bee inspectors who are supposed to be
Looking after our be’s Health chasing Hornets around the countryside um and even if they’re not actually destroying the nest themselves playing at pest controllers in France pest controllers are at the front line of destroying nests where they are part of the loot Collective The Nest is verified by one
Of the reference that enables it to be dealt with under the terms of the scheme giving a preferential rate um sometimes the cost is met by um the commune sometimes it’s the commune and the department with a small um percentage coming from the property owner and it’s the pest controllers who are actually
Doing the pest destruction and that I think is the way ahead in this country we should be getting our pest controllers geared up uh ready to do that role um and getting themselves equipped with the right equipment and the right protective clothing thank you um Brian next please um I’m
Concerned that we’re penny pinching as far as the Situation’s concerned I mean uh if you’re going to you know as far as I’m concerned we’re purchasing a trap which when you’re buying bulk is about1 18 pound it’s a futuristic trap as far as I’m concerned it there’s no there’s no
Um other insects are not are not affected by the Trap and I think if we’re going to be so Penny pitching the Asian Hornet is going to have fun in this country because we’re not getting out together and as far as a bait’s concerned trap it to me it’s a
Professional bait and we shouldn’t be mucking around using other stuff I know it’s cheaper but the end of the day we need to be looking at spending money we can’t be cheap skates otherwise the Asian horn it’s going to be loving this country well I don’t know what to say to that
Yeah you make a very good point um I think I certainly know in France it’s actually very difficult to get people to spend money on defenses for their own apries let alone widespread trapping Etc um I don’t know how people are going to respond in this country to um uh to
Spending that sort of money I can’t really guess so I I don’t think I have any further anything further to add to that thank you um Robin next please hello Andrew um our association is considering this coming year to set up a monitoring of our area rather than
Setting up traps is that the right way to go at the moment bearing in mind in Northeast darash um it’s unlikely that the Asian Hornet will arrive in any numbers for a year or so and we just felt that rather than having lots of traps up perhaps
Initially this first year we we run with um monitor uh monitoring stations um and also have you a suggestion on how far apart these stations should be well if you um okay I don’t know that the Asian Hornet is going to get anywhere near Chester field in the next year or two
Unless you happen to get a hitchhiking Nest set up there um I think the key question that needs to be addressed if you are talking about um setting up bait stations bait stations are normally set up where you know there are hornets in the area and you are trying to get them
To the bait station so that you can mark them uh and then follow them um back to the nest so that’s part of track and Trace I would have thought that again sustainable effort is the key here you could very easily exhaust your ability to do this very early on and then not
Have any interest from your members at the very time you actually need it and if you’ve got to rely on people manning a bait station for a whole day at a time or or teams of people uh monitoring a bait station that’s going to be a very
Big ask um if you’re talking about density of nests if you remember that um the predation the foraging range from um a nest is typically 600 Metter well the French national plan for uh spring trapping envisages putting traps no further than 350 MERS apart in the
Vicinity of an apry so I did go into this in part two in quite a lot of detail so I would suggest you look at that it’s an awful lot of traps you’re probably talking about 15 traps around a single apry so so if you think you can
Get enough people to man those on any meaningful time basis I think that’s very optimistic right thank you for that um we’re probably uh shooting ourselves in the foot initially um I think what we’re thinking are yeah lovely thank you very much thank you next is Jillian and then
Greg I couple of points first um you’re talking about five .5 mm Escape uh holes in your traps the guys in Jersey reckon you can get away with um 7 mil for for buy catch and you’ll have less buy catch with that um so that that’s worth doing
Because the more by catch it’s going to be a problem um second thing is the syrup that you’re talking about it’s available in supermarkets in the UK um I’ve been buying stuff for years just go back to that 7 mm because I think we might be confusing two things
Here if you have a trap and you want to keep out things like veser crabro yeah it’s 7 millimeters but if you want to keep an Asian hornet in a trap it’s 5.5 right the the guys in Jersey have have said that you’ll actually keep your
Uh Asian Hornets in with a 7 millimeter one um this is information from John dearry um to get that checked I I only give you the information as it is published in France right um and I don’t feel I have any um authority to vary the information that that they’re publishing over there
So I go with 5.5 we are very lucky actually to have John dear in the chat if he wants to come in and confirm the sizes that would be lovely uh to keep the Queens in yes work seven mil but if you’re spring trapping then that’s absolutely fine okay and my my
Final question is that um sorry I’m I’m sorry I have to interrupt I didn’t hear John’s answer we didn’t get one from John but we got one from aliser Christie on on the the notes that are coming up um and Alisa is saying that 7 millimeters to keep the Queens in yes
The workers can escape from 7 mil but if you’re spring trapping there’s no workers so 7 mil for spring trapping is absolutely absolutely fine yeah I’m not going to agree with you I’m just going to go with the figures from France so if they’ve come to a different conclusion on Jersey
That’s a matter for them okay you must choose who you want to go with okay and then the other thing is that Asian Hornets aren’t just a beekeeper problem so who else is being tasked with with dealing with this not just beekeepers it can’t be just beekeepers well I would agree with you
But I’ve been asking this question for years now saying the mbu needs to tell us or defra need to tell us what is going to take the place of um the mbu when they have to withdraw from the field and that is the plan what will take over but although I keep prodding
Them and putting in in articles in the bbka and asking them we don’t get a reply and if you notice every time they do a briefing they never say so um they just say it’s under discussion we’ll review it at a high level EX etc etc well personally I don’t think that’s
Good enough but it’s up to them well thank you thanks Greg next please you’ll have to unmute he can you hear me yes yes can um I think my question’s been answered in a way um I’m just a bit concerned that we’ve not heard in Wales anyway of any
Plan from the nbu to deal with a fullscale Invasion if it happens it sounds to me as though they may be expecting even things like best destruction to be done by local volunteer groups is that where you think it’s going to go I don’t know um I think
We’ve got to be very clear here um I monitor what’s happening in France and I collect that information distill it and then give it to you in in what is often a very um short time scale um and often truncating a two or three hour brief into kind of 40 minutes um
It’s all very unsatisfactory but um I have my only uh aim in this exercise is to rapidly disseminate the information from the French beekeeping uh associations and be Health groups as to what their recommendations are that will help our beekeepers um defend their Apes I don’t follow um ah hats in in any
Great detail at all um it’s not a function I’ve seen operating very much over in France um so and as far as the response in this country is concerned I am not the person to ask you would have to ask the appropriate authorities okay thank you we did that’s bbka did
Put a very long list of questions in that you’d all asked at the meeting and we will be chasing that up some of them couldn’t be answered at the time because they they didn’t know but there’s a lot of questions they they really need to be given us answers to um
I can’t see any more questions the there have been a few comments in the chat um Chloe’s just asked do you want to ask a question yourself ch yeah hi um yeah we’ve just been talking with as many people as possible about this and uh we’re finding that lots of
Ecologists are quite skeptical of the impacts that the Asian Hornets is having on EC like other other species and ecology um can Andrew recommend any further reading uh which highlights these impacts in in Europe I certainly can um you need to uh get onto research gate and have a look at the papers
Issued by Dr Sandra Rogers noser um who’s done some very interesting work on the effect of the Asian Hornet on not just on pollinators but on the pollination process as a whole um I think there was uh a lack of research in France initially on the effect of the
Asian Hornet on the insect population then we discovered that back in 200 and 10 11 and 12 I think it was it might be 91 11 um that the museum National histo natural L had done some studies which had shown that an Asian hornet nest um just one Asian hornet nest uh destroyed
The dry weight of about 11 kilogram of insects equating to 100,000 insects per Nest per year um that was a bit of a game Cher to be quite honest um in terms of effect on biodiversity I detect in France a change in um concern and interest towards the
Effect of the Hornet on biodiversity so I don’t think they would agree uh with people saying that there isn’t uh there is no proven effect now that is being used as an argument by Carri the C which is the Belgian um scientific body I think it’s a fairly
Small one actually that has kind of said well there’s no proven effect on um biodiversity what I would say as a purely personal comment is I think there speak people from the luxury of not having the Asian Hornet um kind of populating and infesting their Countryside uh and they’re making a very
Big mistake in that particular assertion so I would say go look at Sandra Rogers nsa’s research um have a look at a paper that was issued by the m&n Quinton Rome um under the heading honeybees are not the only prey um which was a bit of a game
Changer over in France uh and see what you make of that thanks Andrew I know Sandra’s speaking at the spring convention again I’m just got a slide I’ll I’ll put on when we finished questions about that Alan next please please if you unmute yourself yeah sitting listening to
Andrew and other people I I see that there’s a financial implication in this and I don’t see why where the finances are coming from you say you got to equip the the um pest controllers where they’re going to want to know why that they’re going to get paid for doing this
Um they don’t do it for nothing how’s the expectation going to fall on beekeepers to to raise this sort of money because that not going to work either so I I really ask an open question who’s financing who’s financing this well can I say as far as the
Beekeepers as far as the pest controllers are concerned in France pest controllers are absolutely rushed off their feet and the last two years they’ve had far too much work so this is the market forces applying here if you’re a pest controller and you can
Make um1 EUR a time under a scheme or 1 15200 EUR outside of scheme destroying a nest you will find that they will very quickly buy themselves a 500 600 suit and get the necessary equipment to destroy Asian hornet nests think I don’t think you have to worry about that who’s
Paying the the pest controllers this is my question who’s paying the P controllers well if they don’t get paid they don’t destroy the nest so um that’s what that’s what I’m saying I’m asking where this where is the finance coming from well there’s there’s two ways of
Looking at this you could say that um Nest destruction should be paid for out of public funds and of course that comes from the Magic Money Tree that Rishi sunak has got in the back Garden of number 10 Downing Street with unlimited resources or you could take the view
Which I think is probably more realistic that um if you recognize that this is a problem for the community as a whole then then the nest destrution schemes that are subsidized in departments like morban are effectively an insurance policy where it isn’t just the people who are affected by a nation hornet nest
Who pay for the nest to be destroyed the cost of that is spread amongst the whole Department’s um taxpayers that is probably the only realistic way of looking at this um because it it is a very expensive scheme if you have thinking back to 2022 in MCH 10,000
Nests at1 EUR a time that’s a million euros um and it it had been 500,000 Euros the year before even if you recover a um 30% save from property owners and not all departments even do that um you’ve still got a substantial bill on your hand so uh I don’t know
Who’s going to come up with the money I don’t think we are going to be be able to expect the um the government to do it there is however a coroller on that and that is um I think the French have been very careful or slow to recognize the
Risk to Public Health of the Asian Hornet there’s a very good reason for that it’s that if the pest is seen to be a public health hazard then it immediately moves into category one under their system of categorizing health risks in which the government has
To pay so it is stuck and has been stuck for years in Category 2 which becomes the responsibility of the Departments and the regions so there is a political incentive there not to make it um uh a category one pest be very interesting in this country to see what happens when
The risk to the general population is more fully understood and I know there is considerable concern in Spain um that these uh these insects are an additional risk to human health and how can they not be they weren’t present before and now they’re here but I’ve said that several times
Before thank you Andrew uh we’re back to Sandra who I should have renamed before yes okay just to come back on that on continuing that point um I wouldn’t thought most politicians care much about honeybees um only sort of childish sense of caring for them and they probably
Care less about wider insect but they do care about school children being stung in cues waiting to go into school especially local politicians and so it it the funding will come when we get the wider population being damaged which might be too late or later than it should be and
I would have thought lobbying the government should be on the basis of what could be a catastrophic in impact on the wider population not just the bees but the wider human population and that’s when they’ll wake up and take notice bit like the publicity to the post office Scandal didn’t get off the
Ground until a certain trigger point the trigger point in this case would be damaged stung children possibly children’s deaths and um absolute inconvenience to members of the public who won’t want to put up with it and so funding will come in that direction then yes I think we should probably all
Get the the URL for that story about the school um and keep it in our pocket for when we’re next em mailing our remes maybe um Robin had his hand up and seems to took it down do you want to speak again it was a comment about the effects on other than
Beekeepers and listening in to a um a zoom call that Richard null did to Somerset beekeepers it was mentioned that people like the rspb National Trust Wildlife trusts and that are equally going to be affected maybe not initially to the intensity of the beekeeping population but they would
Would be ultimately affected as well and these organizations should be in try we should be trying to get those in uh organizations involved as much as just the beekeeping pop uh population um it also it also highlighted a lack of knowledge when Chris pacam a spokes you know Ambassador for the
Rspb said oh it won’t affect birds not realizing that insects we are a valuable source of food to many of the bird species and it would appear that um the problems we as beekeepers face with the Asian Hornet is quite often when there is no other food
Source available for them to feed on very much like happens when European Hornets start pork in our hives when there’s a shortage for them to feed on and I I I think if we should as an as a group we should be pressing for other interested groups to be
Involved thanks Robin um we’ve got Paul and then Judith um I am aware it is 10 8 so I don’t actually want to carry on all all night much as I love talking to you all and seeing you all so Paul next please should we go to Judith and come
Back to Paul if you unmute yourself Judith I’ve unmuted now right go on then Paul we’ll come to Judith next uh I’m I’m quite pessimistic about the P who’s going to pay for Destruction we’re looking at a government which um frankly has probably got to increase taxes rather than lower
Them to pay for everything they’ve got to do and I live in a county which is supposedly 100 million in the red it might serve a 114 notice shortly um I don’t see where money for destruction’s going to come from if we get to the
Stage of a of a school getting a bad stinging we’re up to our necking Asian Hornets by then or am I just a pessimist um I don’t know I don’t think I can answer that um that was purely rhetorical right thank you um if we go
To Judith now and then there’s a couple of comments in the chat after Judith oh hello um I’m in in darbishire um where we haven’t had a hornet yet but um I what I was gonna say now um Can can we get a petition going because um if we
Get enough signatures then the government have to discuss it in Parliament and then maybe we’ll get some action the other thing is that in our in our beekeeping Association we’ve made some PowerPoint to educate all the beekeepers got 150 beekeepers and in March I’m I’m going to present as much
Information as I’ve possibly being able to gather from from you and everybody else and educate the beekeepers they’re going to then each pick an association and take a simple PowerPoint and we’ll help them do their presentations so that’s 150 associations and groups that we can spread out to to put the
Education out there and then the last idea is look at the drama with the post office what about getting getting a drama about these Asian Hornets on the TV and get it noticed three points there thank you Judith I will deal with the petition one
If you could just wave at your camera if you signed either of the honey petitions yeah yeah not very many of you waving at me um we did petitions and the problem with doing a petition and not doing very well is you look foolish and when When we struggle to get the number
Of our members to sign the honey petition we’re a bit reluctant to do another one and you have to decide what you want to ask um my second point is because I want you all to wave again how many of you have got the Asian Hornet watch app on your
Phones more people excellent more hands going up excellent if you’re not waving or putting your hand up please download it now um or wait till the end of the talk you said about um PowerPoints Judith that sounds really great if associations have got PowerPoints they’re happy for us to
Share then please send them into the office and we’ll get them on the website and we can share share those resources you’re finding useful and if there’s something you think we should be doing to to share you you can’t make it ask us because we will try and make that I’ve
Just Seen Mark who I know hello Mark um so was there something else I I counted three things on my fingers um Sandra’s at the spring convention I’ve said that there’s lots of other talks at the spring convention um aliser or John has put links to research in the chat I am going
To save the chat and pull the links out um because obviously you’re all interested in finding out the the background to how many kilograms of insects Asian Hornets will eat um I’m sorry I’ve completely lost track of whether there was a third Point Judith petitions Powerpoints and make make a TV program
Oh the TV program because that works doesn’t it it does but someone’s got to write it so if if anyone would like to join forces with me to write a script I’m quite happy to have a go at it but probably not on my own I’ve only written
Had a go writing sitcoms in the past so I don’t think it’s very funny Asian Hornet or maybe it should be um so are there any more questions for Andrew as he’s been giving us this lovely talk again tonight okay if not I shall um say thank you for
Your attention I think David in in South staffs is trying to say something right David do you want to unmute and ask the last question no staff thank you look many years ago we the BBK executive undertook certain initiatives to try and get the government of the day more
Informed on on certain issues and some leadership has got to come forward from the BBK EXA again to to towards the local associations to get something moving individual associations whilst they might appear to be strong don’t have the same clout as a as a national beekeeping organization so Diane how can we help
You to try and take the work forward because it can only be done at the national level individually we are useless as a combination of groups we are very strong Tim love it proved it years ago and it it never failed thank you thanks thanks David um
As you may be aware we have formed an Asian Hornet committee yeah um and that will be the the section of the trustees that pushes The Way Forward on that so I’m really hoping you’ll see some some significant publicity this coming year and we’re we’re going to employ an
Outreach worker to help get the message out there not only to associations but to all the other Charities and organizations who need to support us on this because as someone said tonight this is bigger than just beekeepers yeah so thank you very much everyone thank you so much Andrew for a lovely talk
Again it’s always a pleasure to to watch your your slides and learn about what’s going on in Europe so thank you very much if we could all say thank you to Andrew thank you you thank you thanks everybody thank you Andrew thank you Andrew thank you thanks everyone so whilst you’re all
Leaving you can look at this slide about the spring convention which I’m plugging again if you want to come and see me there you can come and say hello oh we’ll be there where be there it’s at har prams in Shropshire it’s a brilliant campus um you will find me in the bar
Late in the evening yeah we’ll be there well done di thank you very much thank you good night good night see good night thank you good night thank you again good Night thanks very much bye bye good night Peter thank you good night Tracy good night John boy bye yeah night Diane good night Mark see you tomorrow night for stor control with the yes yes good night Mary Ellen thank you very much Jim Bob answer on my Psy game right yes okay
Now I S you a little bit of a song that been on the last oh there’s Joyce hello Joyce I’m Gonna Save the chat before before I go which is why I want you all to go and then you’ll have all finish typing things in the chat
Dian it’s Michelle hello if if you want to talk to me about what I um sent you more than happy to um but I know what I will do I will