How should beekeepers deal with the advancing Asian Hornet, which is targeting our honey bees, among other things? Many beekeepers in the Northern Netherlands are concerned about this. There is now a scenario for combating the insect and that will be discussed tonight during a large beekeeper meeting in Echten.
The meeting is an initiative of the organization Ruiner Beekeepers. During the meeting, various specialists will talk about the Asian hornet. Leontine Uijthof, beekeeping teacher and Edwin Lankheet, bee health coordinator, among others, will visit. More than 150 beekeepers from the Northern Netherlands have now registered to attend the meeting.
One of the attendees is Roel Broekman, a member of Ruiner Imkers and a beekeeper himself in Koekange. He sees the arrival of the Asian hornet as a threat to the entire beekeeping industry. “Because they eat a lot of bees and wild bees. But it doesn’t stop there, they also eat butterflies. It’s a threat to biodiversity.”
So something has to be done, says Broekman. In Brabant and Limburg, a step-by-step plan was set up last year to combat the hornet. The same scenario will be discussed tonight in Echten and rolled out in Drenthe. “You have to get there as early as possible. The best thing is to find the nests in the spring and have it removed by a professional.”
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