Asian hornet: http://www.biolib.cz/en/taxonimage/id129404/
Recent report in La Nouvelle République on the continued progress of the Asian hornet, which is believed to have been accidentally introduced into France from China through Bordeaux in 2004. This hornet is a serious threat to bees, which are already under threat.
Le frelon à pattes jaunes poursuit son
inexorable progression dans le département d’Indre-et-Loire. Près de
200 nids ont été recensés l’an dernier.
Deux nids de frelons asiatiques détruits
fin juillet à Saint-Branchs ?
L'alerte lancée par un de nos lecteurs n'est pas de nature à surprendre
Jean-François Lenoir : « C'est
dès 2009, lorsque les premiers spécimens ont été repérés à Notre-Dame-d'Oé que
j'ai alerté le maire de Tours », rappelle le président du Syndicat de
l'apiculture tourangelle.'
Lire la suite ici.
There are also now reports that the Asiatic hornet is headed to the UK.
See also MNHN factsheet here.
See also MNHN factsheet here.
2 comments:
The most reliable general info on the Yellow-legged Asian Hornet comes from the MNHN factsheet. The hornet seems to mainly target hobbyist hives, not commercial hives -- we don't really know why. French honey bees are not particularly under threat, from this or any other thing. If there are issues, they tend to be related to husbandry (eg beekeepers not picking up disease or infestations quickly enough). Globally honey bee numbers are increasing (because China has taken up apiary in a big way). Honey bees in the US have some serious problems, again primarily a husbandry issue.
The real problem and the one we should actually be focusing on is loss of habitat for wild bees. Honey bees are domestic animals, often introduced. They push out the wild species and are also not the best pollinators. They could go extinct tomorrow and nothing much would happen (except people like me would miss honey). On the other hand, the loss of wild bees, especially bumbles, mason and orchard bees, would have a considerable impact on commercial crops which require insect pollination.
Many thanks Susan. Jim
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