All animals may be there, you would think. But we prefer not to have the Asian hornet in the Netherlands. Reason: This Hoornaar eats many other insects, such as the honey bees of beekeeper association Sint Ambrosius in Reusel-De Mierden. The association starts on Monday with handing out traps in the village. In this way she hopes to stop the rapid rise of the Asian hornet there.
“It is really not a nice beast,” says Peter Lauwers of beekeepers’ association Sint Ambrosius, showing a dead hornet. A good insect indeed, black and light brown in color, but it is a queen, they are always bigger.
Heavily buzzing, the Asian Hoornaar regularly hangs in front of the hives of the association. He catches the honeybij while flying out. He bites the head and the back to eat the protein -rich centerpiece. The bees are massively killing and do not dare to leave their closet.
“Maybe thousands of nests in a few years.”
According to the association, the Hoornaar can quickly multiply. “A nest can produce seven nests a year later,” says Lauwers. “If we didn’t do anything, we might have thousands of nests in a few years.” According to Lauwers, the horners in a nest can eat 15 kilograms of other insects. The Hoornaar would dominate everything. The association already found 25 litters in the area last year.
“In France you even have entire areas where there is no more honey bee,” says Wim Mariën, also from the bee association. “You only have the hornet there.” According to the bee association, the Hoornaar was accidentally imported and on the rise in Europe. In Brabant, in the eyes of the bee association, more should be done to stop that.
“It is also not a very intelligent animal.”
Wim Walen from the village wants to participate and will receive the first fall on Monday. In his backyard he has already regularly imprisoned Asian hornets. “I have decaying fruit in my bird cage in the back garden,” he says. “That is to put on fruit flies for the birds. But the Hoornaar also comes to it.” The Hoornaar is also crazy about the fruit tree, especially the sweet fruit.
The fall consists of a plastic container with bait fluid. It partly consists of alcohol, such as wine and beer. And it contains sugar water. “Most other insects do not like alcohol, only the hornet comes off,” says Wim Mariën. “He can no longer find the gap through which the Hoornaar flies.” It is also not a very intelligent animal, “says Mariën.” Other insects that fly in can find their way out again. ” Corners are put in the freezer. “Then it is done immediately.”
“It’s now about catching the queens.”
The bee association hopes to stop the rise of the Hoornaar in Reusel-De Mierden by handing out more than a hundred. But whether that will succeed is only known later in the year. The nests of the Asian hornet can be seen in the fall. “It is now about catching the queens,” says Peter Lauwers. “If you catch it, no new nest can be started and nests can also multiply less.”
Incidentally, according to the bee association, the Hoornaar is not immediately aggressively towards people: “Unless people get too close to the nest, they can attack.” According to the bee association, it is always important to stay calm and not to make fast movements with nests or beekasts. Incidentally, it is important to confuse the Asian hornet with the European hornet. The latter is even a bit bigger, but less harmful, says the bee association.