On Friday 4th October a nest was destroyed following the confirmed sighting of an Asian hornet near Christchurch, Dorset after it was reported by a member of the public.
It is imperative that any Asian hornet colonies in the UK are detected and destroyed before queens are released.
As beekeepers we are in a uniquely advantageous position to either trap or sight the Asian Hornet ‘Vespa Velutina’ and this is vital to preserve honeybees and other pollinating insects in the UK.
Asian hornets were initially brought to France in 2004, most likely in a shipment of pottery imported from east Asia. Since arriving in France, the species has spread rapidly and decimated pollinators, partiularly honeybees, in that country.
We all know the damaging effects that the appropriately named parasitic mite Varroa destructor can have on our honey bee colonies. The mites attach themselves to the bees and their larvae and feed on their host’s haemolymph. In their phoretic stage, they are transported on adult bees, and can thus spread between bees within the hive and between colonies through the processes of drifting, robbing and swarming of the bees.
Rugby Beekeepers Association were approached in 2018 by Pieta Greaves of Drakon Heritage and Conservation. They were looking for local beeswax that could be used in a project focusing on reconstructions of a high-status helmet contained within the Staffordshire Hoard. The project aimed to showcase how the original may have looked and to provide valuable research on the methods used in its construction and evidence of beeswax was found in the original objects during research in both the crest and on the lower design panel.
