Elphaidis L’Or, chairman of Beekeeper Association Den Bosch, believes that the province and municipalities should have more money left for the fight against the Asian Hoornaar. The beekeeper from Vlijmen was called in on Tuesday evening to remove a nest that had fallen on the doorstep in the middle of a residential area. “But that responsibility should be somewhere else,” she says.
Elphaidis was called on Tuesday evening by a worried neighbor who saw the nest falling in the Van Straelenlaan in Den Bosch. “Then we come on behalf of the beekeeper association, because you can’t leave such a nest for a few days. But the responsibility and especially financial responsibility cannot be with beekeeping associations,” she says.
A set that is needed to remove a Nest Asian horners soon costs around fifteen thousand euros. “You need a vacuum cleaner, channel set and protective clothing. Beekeeper associations depend on gifts and donations, so they can’t afford that,” she says. Elphaidis was allowed to borrow a set from Beekervereniging Langstraat on Tuesday.
“If you leave nests, more will come back.”
“Beekeepers would like to help, but then there must be money from the province or municipalities to do that,” she says. “Now there is a game from the province and if that is finished, it is a shame. But if you leave nests, more will come back.”
The province says that it has the legal task of protecting wild animals in the province, such as butterflies and wild bees, who can be at risk due to the Asian Hoornaar.
“We have called in a destruction team that has tried in recent years to remove all the nests in our province. But in the past year we have noticed that this is no longer possible, the number of nests is growing too fast. While we doubled our budget, the number of nests quadrupled,” says a spokesperson for the province.
That is why the province decided last year to temporarily only combat the nests hanging in risky places, for example, close to a schoolyard or playing field. The distribution team of the province also removed no more nests that hung higher than ten meters.
“Only aggressive if you threaten their nest.”
“It is good to know that Asian horners are not immediately dangerous. They are only aggressive if you threaten their nest. For example, if you accidentally kick a ball against the nest,” says a spokesperson. That a nest falls down automatically is an exception, according to the province.
The province recommends people who have a Nest Asian horners on its own ground to engage a destruction team themselves. “But beware, because there are unreliable companies that sometimes ask for a thousand euros,” the spokesperson knows. “Removing a small spring nest costs about the same as the removal of a wasp’s nest.”
