"The Asian hornet can be identified by a single yellow band on its dark body and brown eyes on its yellow-orange face."
And the fact that it's 2 inches bloody long. Jesus.
Asian hornets are HERE... those honey bee murdering BASTARDS
A sleepy Cotswold town could be about to witness the genocide of local honey bees following the discovery of invasive predatory Asian hornets. Sightings of the inch-long death bringers have been confirmed in the Tetbury area in Gloucestershire for the first time. Although it has a long, powerful stinger, it's the hornet's …
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 16:14 GMT Chris Miller
No, there's been a bit of confusion in the press generally about this. The ones found in Tetbury are Asian Hornets, but not Asian Giant Hornets, which are a different species (and bigger, obvs - they're the ones that can grow up to two inches long). The Asian Hornets have been introduced and are fairly widespread across continental Europe, although they don't like cold winters so are more common in the south. They are actually slightly smaller than the native British Hornet, but they do have a taste for honey bees, which can make them a bit of a problem for beekeepers.
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 16:37 GMT Anonymous Coward
That aside the advice:
"Chittka advised anyone who might come into contact with the winged critters to "not to poke a stick into a nest". The hornets are fiercely territorial and can become aggressive if provoked."
Pity our government didn't take this advice about getting involved in Iraq, Syria and Libya.....
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Thursday 22nd September 2016 02:54 GMT Chairo
Not giant hornets
Yes, there are quite a lot of different hornet species in Asia. Luckily the giant hornet is only one of them.
That said even the smaller ones can be quite aggressive if they feel their nest is threatened.
Last week a group of Marathon runners in Japan found that out the hard way. And those were smaller hornets. Their nest was only half a meter in diameter. Giant hornet nests can easily reach a meter.
From personal experience I can say giant hornets are really something special. Already the sound they make is nothing like other wasps. They sound similar to the sound a big beetle makes during flight. But they have nothing of the clumsiness of a beetle. Occasionally one zips through our garden. Good that they don't go for sweet stuff, like European wasps. As long as they don't defend their nest and you aren't a honey bee, you should be safe. Of course knowing that doesn't make you feel any better if one is hovering in front of you. Running away does not work, standing still does not make her go away and slowly walking off takes a lot of willpower.
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 15:46 GMT Dave 126
1. Please don't kill any of our native hornets (and generally, any black and yellow buzzy thing won't sting you if you don't take swipes at it
2. What happened to that Mosquito-killing laser turret (made cheaply from bits of scanners, cameras and DVD players) from Ted Talks?
Edit: It's the laser from a BluRay player. https://www.ted.com/talks/nathan_myhrvold_could_this_laser_zap_malaria/transcript?language=en
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 16:14 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Stings like a bullet
Quite, which makes the following statement seem quite bewildering.
Professor Nicola Spence, chief plant health officer at Defra, told the Beeb: "It is important to remember they pose no greater risk to human health than a bee, though we recognise the damage they can cause to honey bee colonies.
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 18:12 GMT Dwarf
Re: Stings like a bullet
@DAM
OK, then see for yourself. Large holes, nothing like an average UK wasp sting. Looks like a bullet hole to me and yes, I've seen enough things shot over the years. If you want to split hairs, then make it an entry hole. Point is its a damn site larger than a normal wasp sting.
@AC - "It is important to remember they pose no greater risk to human health than a bee, " means that it will not kill you, but having the ability to dissolve human flesh means that :
A. It will hurt a lot more
B. It will take a lot longer to pass than a normal UK wasp sting.
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 15:58 GMT M7S
Killing bees at the rate of 40 per minute?
Per hornet?
For a few of them out swaggering on a Friday night and looking for trouble?
For a swarm of (currently undefined Reg unit) size? If so, what are the known variations in size of a swarm compared to "normal"?
For El Reg, that's worse than the crime reporters who blindly quote police as saying the MAC-10 can fire 1,000 rounds per minute. Yes it can fire at that rate, but it cannot fire that amount in a minute unless you've a magic Hollywood magazine, Sloppy from a tech publication that should be good with basic number concepts.
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 16:10 GMT LesC
Re: Killing bees at the rate of 40 per minute?
Indeed per hornet. European honeybees attack one at a time and are swiftly despached. Asian honeybees surround them and cook them with their body heat as Asian honeybees can survive at higher temperatures than the hornets can.
A Euro-Asian honeybee hybrid needed here???
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Thursday 22nd September 2016 09:37 GMT cortland
Re: Killing bees at the rate of 40 per minute?
You can get 100 round drum magazines, but here's a test someone a ran manually loading 30 and 50 round (drum )magazines into a modified AR – 15 on full automatic. He used up most of the table full of ammunition before the barrel failed at 830 rounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSizVpfqFtw
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 16:17 GMT Anonymous Coward
Be Warned
I discovered in a football sized nest looking like one of those tacky paper lampshades, these beasties
Checked with the local farmer who confirmed that they were Frelon Asiatique, very dangerous, and to get, for about 12 euro's, a spray that shoots a poison onto the nest, with a range of about 1.5 metres.
Fired the aerosol at the nest and legged it.
Came back next day, most dead, a few pissed off survivors which were dispatched. They never returned, unlike wasps which seem to.
The bee swarm which passed in front of me by about 1 metre, ended up between the neighbours window and the closed shutter, quite interesting to go into the house and see them behind glass.
We called a local bee keeper, who got them into a hive, and were rewarded with honeycomb and a jar of honey.
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 16:26 GMT Destroy All Monsters
Re: Be Warned
Why very dangerous? As mentioned Frelon Asiatique is not more dangerous than a standard bee.
Also, it's actually a wasp..
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 17:36 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Be Warned
And who are "the people round here".
The local farmers.
As for deaths ... there is only one listed.
try the scroll button.
One man, one woman, thats two
The points you are missing, are that the frelon is a hornet as opposed to a guêpe which is a wasp.
This particular frelon is not native to Europe, is a result of global trade and is fatal to the bee (abeille) population.
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 18:32 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Be Warned
Depends on the department, I was informed it would be cheaper to use the spray, which is specifically designed for frelon asiatiques, as opposed to calling the pompiers.
It worked, albeit a bit scary, but I also had protective clothing and a safety person on hand, also I can run fast!!!
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 23:53 GMT Myvekk
We already have the Hornets. They're [i]supposed[/i] to be replaced by the f-35s...
First the varroa mites & now wasps, why does Asia hate the honey bees?
And yes, we learned, after the cane toads. And Dogs, cats, pigs, goats, deer, sparrows, indian mynahs, pigeons, rabbits, calicivirus...
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Thursday 22nd September 2016 02:06 GMT Steven Roper
Haha... except that dogs, cats, pigs, goats, deer, sparrows*, mynah birds, pigeons* rabbits** all preceded cane toads - by many decades!
*Migratory birds can reach the continent on their own, we're not to blame for those!
**We didn't import the calicivirus, we invented it to try and get rid of the rabbits. It seems to have a reasonable job, considering my mate's farm has been relatively rabbit-free for the past decade or so; what few rabbits remain are readily sorted out with his .22 rimfires ...
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 17:45 GMT wikkity
Re: "Not to poke a stick in the nest"
I had a nest* in a sand pit this year, caught it early before there were too many wasps. I got rid of it by every now and then going outside with a plastic spade tied to the end of a big stick and mixing the sand up a little before running very quickly back in the house. By the time I shut the door and look out the window there'd be 40ish wasps flying around, I would not like to try that in the open with a full nest.
* Regular yellow jackets
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 20:24 GMT Grunchy
Oh tosh, I can fix those nests.
Here's my secret: I take my motorcycle helmet and close up the vents and make sure the chin guard is in place and tuck my pants into my boots (and tape 'em) and make sure my leather gloves are tucked into my leather jacket. Big wooly scarf to close up any remaining holes.
Once I'm secure, I go out there with the spade and churn 'em up until the queen is dispatched. You'll know when the fighters start acting dazed. Then I crush em, up to 40 per minute.
Make sure you've got a helper to check out your costume beforehand...
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 20:45 GMT Swiss Anton
Dark doings in Gloucestershire
Is the Queen safe from these critters? Can HRH visit her eldest son Chaz (a Tetbury local) without being decapitated*. Is this nothing more than a Corbyn** plot to overthrow the Monarchy . I demand to know.
*To be fair decapitation is an occupational hazard when it comes to being a monarch, though AFAIA, hornets have not hitherto, been the cause of a premature abdication.
** See icon
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Wednesday 21st September 2016 21:12 GMT Anonymous Coward
Problem solved!
"Asian honeybees surround them and cook them with their body heat as Asian honeybees can survive at higher temperatures than the hornets can."
Just need to colonize Britain with a few thousand Asian honeybee hives. What's the worst that could happen?
(Icon shows me getting into my sting-proof suit)
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Thursday 22nd September 2016 00:35 GMT A Ghost
I saw one of the fuckers, or one of its ilk, about 8 years ago, just hovering in a field, menacingly. The barb was half as long as its body. Bright Yellow and Black it was. Hovering. Menacingly.
Don't matter how dumb you are - you know you don't want to get stung by one of them!
I've seen a few of them over the years, but then again, I've lived a long time. Pretty rare they are.
Beautiful though, in their way. And just as valid a life form as any here on Earth.
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Thursday 22nd September 2016 08:33 GMT 0laf
Aaaaaaaaargh, I said, Aaaaaaargh
On holiday in Portugal what was I assume to be one of the giant hornets landed on my then 2yr old son's head whilst we were 20' up in a Ferris wheel.
Gave the poor boy a right clout knocking the big bastard off him. My wife just about jumped out the carousel having a total phobia of anything bee or wasp like. I recall it being about 3" long and black but abject panic may have affected that memory.
It bad enough that I've got a constant supply of drunk British wasps around my apple tree right now.
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Thursday 22nd September 2016 12:28 GMT R.Moore
Vespa Velutina
Its vespa velutina that's been spotted in Gloucestershire.
See the National Bee Unit's post here
http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/public/News/news.cfm#175
and info in the species here
http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?pageid=208
They aren't particularly large and I think the clearest identifier are the 'yellow socks' it sports (that and the yellow band on the 4th segment of the abdomen, but it's size varies and sometimes is more difficult to make out).
This is a particularly bad time for it to have been spotted because about now, any nest will be incubating hundreds of queens which will mate with drones and seek out locations for new nests. If they aren't found and destroyed very soon, the species will only be controlled by the cold winters, which are getting warmer..
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Thursday 22nd September 2016 14:29 GMT naive
Vespa Velutina not Vespa Mandarinia
The article is about Vespa Velutina (i.e. Asian Hornet) not Vespa Mandarinia (Asian giant Hornet).
The first one is max. 0.8 inch in size, the latter up to 2 inch.
Both eat bees and are unpleasant company for us humans. Velutina is the lesser lethal threat, Mandarinia killed in 2013 several dozens of people in China.
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Thursday 22nd September 2016 15:25 GMT earl grey
bess i'm ok with
Honeybees, little black bees, even bumblebees...
Hornets, yellowjackets, wasps... not so much... The big 2 inch ones have been around here for a bit and my neighbor got them in his garage and barn... His one son got stung by one and it laid him out flat for a while. Most of the smaller ones have nests in the ground, but for some reason this year decided they wanted to live in the house and a couple of them stung the missus. she was not amused.
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Thursday 29th September 2016 04:41 GMT Anonymous Coward
Finally, a use
For Bluray writer lasers.
I have plans here for an Asian hornet nuking trap which identifies bees and leaves then alone but when a hornet of the desired size and shape ends up in the trap the Pi Zero administers a lethal dose of 395nm radiation.
It will also work fine with an IR laser but even a partial hit will immobilize a hornet, as tested here.
Works well on mosquitoes too!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
