So, don't close the entrance - an active busy hive at this time of year
will value the open entrances, so you're right to hesitate to close them
up. If they're at all worried they'll start to build propolis barriers but
the occasional hornet should not worry them.
Due to all the bee traffic the hive will look like A Lot Of Trouble to
attack - wasps and hornets will look for easier food sources!
Paul
On Mon, 5 Jul 2021 at 15:56, Oxnatbees <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Congratulations on your new families 8)
From my reading, European hornets are not a problem. The issue is that
Asian hornets are a specialist predator which specialises in attacking
honeybees, AND AH nests are enormous - thousands not hundreds of hornets.
So whereas European hornets will opportunistically grab the occasional bee
when they're out and about, they don't actively hover ("hawk") outside the
hive waiting for a bee to pop out.
I've seen a picture of a hive in France where the bees were in a big clump
on the landing board. The caption explained they had huddled there for
days, terrified to fly off because of the hovering Asian Hornets about 18
inches away. Hives have starved to death this way.
Killing an AH nest is challenging because, you know,* thousands* of
hornets. Which are apparently more defensive than European ones. You know
hornet stings hurt *much* more than bee or wasp stings? Something to do
with more venom and, a higher percentage of acetylcholine in the mix. If
that chemical sounds familiar it's because it's a neurotransmitter in our
metabolism - basically a pain amplifier for mammals.
I've also seen videos of another kind of Far Eastern hornet the size of
your middle finger crawling *inside* a hive and laying waste to all
within, but I've not heard of AH's doing that. But you can see why bees
build propolis barriers when there are large predators like these around.
Shadiya once opened an "empty" TBH and found a small European hornet nest
inside. "I put the lid back on and walked away quietly." That WOULD have
been a problem for any bees in there, but I assume she put on a bee suit
and killed them before putting a swarm in. Note that hornets have longer
stings than bees so you may think you're protected, but you may not be.
Remember also that European hornets are not necessarily a problem - and
they eat wasps.
Paul
On Mon, 5 Jul 2021 at 15:14, jan benson <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I was wandering aimlessly in my garden this afternoon and noticed a
hornet hovering outside one of the TBHs. A quick google ruled out Asian
variety.
It flew off, but should I be blocking one of the holes? The bees are all
busy, and I hesitate to limit their entry points. No wasps yet.
Update on my hives: After my slightly disastrous “learning experience”
trying to catch one of my swarms, it finally left one day, probably when I
was looking the other way. But Sue Vaughan (another TBH beek, introduced to
me by way of Oxnatbees, thank you) had a nuc on some bars that were
identical to mine, and also a swarm…so we ended up with all three hives
being populated, and they all seem to be doing and building well. The
original hive, now depleted, is possibly the weakest, at this point.
Jan Benson
