Asian hornet - be aware and stay safe

[ABtrees]

6 hours ago, Mick Dempsey said:

If you find pointless activity satisfying I suppose.

 

Hi All

 

Mick, I have to pick you up on that - we had a guy come round and he had done exactly that , (as described) last year.  Took out an Asian hornet nest (at about 40-50 feet up) in a field on the outskirts of a local village with said paintball gun.  We passed by a few days later - no activity at all.  To be fair it wasn't your average gun, some higher powered version and surprisingly accurate.  It does work.

 

On a separate note, we have had Asians for (at least) the last 4 years - never had any trouble from them apart from grabbing my bees as they returned to the hive.  I found letting some grass stalks grow tall in front of the hive seriously reduced their chances of catching one though, and must confess to an adrenaline fuelled 20 minutes with a badminton racquet !!!!!

[Mick Dempsey]

23 minutes ago, ABtrees said:

 

Hi All

 

Mick, I have to pick you up on that - we had a guy come round and he had done exactly that , (as described) last year.  Took out an Asian hornet nest (at about 40-50 feet up) in a field on the outskirts of a local village with said paintball gun.  We passed by a few days later - no activity at all.  To be fair it wasn't your average gun, some higher powered version and surprisingly accurate.  It does work.

 

On a separate note, we have had Asians for (at least) the last 4 years - never had any trouble from them apart from grabbing my bees as they returned to the hive.  I found letting some grass stalks grow tall in front of the hive seriously reduced their chances of catching one though, and must confess to an adrenaline fuelled 20 minutes with a badminton racquet !!!!!

I have messaged my local exterminator to ask about this, I’ll let the members know what he says.

[Mick Dempsey]

He says he is against this method as it is a highly toxic poison and firing it into the air and blasting pellets into the environment and missing the target is not advisable.

It is a point of view shared by the majority of his contemporaries. 

[Joe Newton]

41 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

He says he is against this method as it is a highly toxic poison and firing it into the air and blasting pellets into the environment and missing the target is not advisable.

It is a point of view shared by the majority of his contemporaries. 

What does he charge per outting, Mick?

 

After my unpleasant experience with wasps last year I'd hope it was worth it. 

[Joe Newton]

Just now, Joe Newton said:

What does he charge per outting, Mick?

 

After my unpleasant experience with wasps last year I'd hope it was worth it. 

In all honesty if it was the choice between a paintball gun filled with Sarin gas and getting up close and personal i think i might be holding my breath and excrcising my trigger finger. 

[Mick Dempsey]

Just now, Joe Newton said:

In all honesty if it was the choice between a paintball gun filled with Sarin gas and getting up close and personal i think i might be holding my breath and excrcising my trigger finger. 

Think it averages 80 odd bucks, he charges more if he has to climb.

[petercb]

We had European Hornets make a nest in some old hay bales in our Hay barn. When we were putting last years crop into the barn my wife said she had been stung by a wasp on the arm. We went back that night after darkto spray the nest with wasp nest destroyer, next thing we had them coming out of the nest and we only just got back into the pickup in time. They were crawling all over the car and we realised just how big they were. Quick blast down the road cleared them. 

Next day her arm swelled up like a sausage with liquid oozing from the wound and very very painful, visit to A&E who wanted to admit her but she wasn't having that so was given some strong antibiotics.

Luckily have a tenant who is a professional pest contoller. He came and had a look and identified them as European Hornets which he said were nasty things. He put all his gear on and sprayed nest site with professional grade chemicals, next day still some around so he sprayed it again which did the trick. Very vicious things who will defend the nest after dark.

Took a week for swelling to go down and arm too return to normal.

All I can say if I see any again it will be big steps in the opposite direction and let the professionals deal with it. She was lucky to have been stung only once, dread to think how bad it would have been if she had been stung multiple times.

[Joe Newton]

57 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Think it averages 80 odd bucks, he charges more if he has to climb.

Wouldn't be nearly enough to get me near them, but i guess i wouldn't take a job as a lifeguard if i couldn't swim either. 

[petercb]

1 hour ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Think it averages 80 odd bucks, he charges more if he has to climb.

Mine cost me nothing other than letting him come metal detecting over a couple of our fields.

[Paul in the woods]

17 minutes ago, petercb said:

He came and had a look and identified them as European Hornets which he said were nasty things.

I suppose he would say that but European Hornets are normally no trouble at all. We get them all the time, often having to shepherd them out the house and they nest regularly about the place and they've never stung anyone. 

 

Obviously if you're likely to react badly to stings then I would be more cautious but my honey bees are far worse than hornets or wasps.

 

I would urge anyone in the UK to contact the BBKA or your local bee keeping group if you suspect Asian Hornets. It should be easy to get hold of someone who can identify them and help eradicate  them if they are the invasives.

Edited February 26, 2024 by Paul in the woods