Dear Member,

At our November meeting Margaret Murdin gave an impassioned talk about the Asian Hornet and the threat it poses not only to beekeepers but to pollinators in general. Apparently in France it is estimated to have decimated the pollinator population by 30%. You can imagine the impact this will have on agriculture and the general economy, so she says the UK government has committed to a policy of total eradication of this non-native species. She outlined the panoply of agencies that come into play when a sighting of an Asian Hornet is confirmed, but essentially it will be down to the team of bee inspectors to do the detective work in finding and destroying nests.

She stressed the role that beekeepers can play in helping to identify these hornets but also encouraged us to display information about how to identify and report at places like schools, garden centres and allotment associations. If you have access to anywhere you think may be suitable to display this information, Beebase has downloadable information for you to print off.

I am making this appeal through the newsletter as there was a very small attendance at the last meeting, and this is an issue which as beekeepers and as citizens we should take seriously. Last year there were 13 confirmed sightings in Britain and 6 nests were destroyed, but if mated queens have overwintered one nest can produce 350 gynes (queens) the next year, so you can see how quickly this pest will spread if it is not identified. The important thing is to take a picture of the hornet to help with correct identification and allow it to be traced to its nest. Send your picture to alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk, use the online notification form or install the Asian Hornet Watch app on your phone and use that to take and send the picture.

As with wasps, to trap hornets in Spring the trap needs to be baited with something sweet - beer, jam etc, but from July onward the traps need protein and in France they have found sardines work well or else fishy cat food. So get your traps made, ready for Spring - instructions on Beebase.

With the mild weather stretching into November this year, people have reported bees flying actively late into Autumn. While some bees may have been able to collect nectar from ivy, and pollen from asters and dahlias still flowering, when the bees have been this active rather than clustering for winter, they do tend to use up more stores, so continue to heft your hives, or weigh them to monitor their consumption of stores.

I know as a new beekeeper I found it worrying to leave my bees alone during the long stretch between October and March and to trust that I had done enough to ensure they would get through the winter, but you can do more harm than good by even lifting the lid to take a quick look - by interfering with the temperature within the hive you stress the bees and they need to consume more, so leave alone until at least January, unless your external monitoring says they have run out of stores, then feed with fondant.

Remember that our December meeting has been brought forward to the first Wednesday in December - the 5th. Please come along with a plate of Christmas fare to share, and join in a game of Turkey foot - no physical exertion required, no intellectual prowess needed, just a share of luck and some wily manoeuvring required.

Regards

Margaret Holdsworth