Beekeeper Kees Dogge from Welberg was shocked. In one of the traps he placed in his yard, there was an Asian hornet. The large and relatively dangerous wasp is increasingly appearing in our country. Kees fears that this is only the beginning. “We have to fight him together. Only then can we prevent a disaster,” he warns.
He has recently placed decoy traps on the advice of a beekeeper from Belgium. They are already used to the horror wasp there, but the insect is still relatively new in our country. This year, Waarneming.nl received only six reports.
They target bees. “They fly to the closet and pick everything that comes in from the air. And the bees in the hive don’t dare to get out anymore. If you have four of those hornets in front of your cupboard, the whole nation is doomed.”
“In this way, the food supply could be in serious trouble.”
Not only bees, other pollinating insects also fall prey to the Asian hornet. In addition, the black-yellow wasp loves fruit. “Biodiversity is already deteriorating. In this way, the food supply can run into serious problems,” says Kees.
Kees’ wife thought she saw the hornet flying. When the beekeeper went to look a little later, it turned out that the exotic wasp had indeed flown into a trap. Kees has put the animal in the freezer and the hornet is now dead. “I hope it was a queen. It is slightly larger than normal. Then she can no longer build a nest.”
The nests of the Asian hornets are still close to the ground, but in July and August they make their nest high in the tree. “Such a nest can grow as big as a skippy ball. And then 700 queens can be born,” says Kees. “That is almost impossible to combat.”
“The danger is underestimated. The provinces have not yet been shaken up.”
The Asian hornet is on the list of invasive alien species and the European Union therefore wants to suppress its spread. But according to Kees, very little is happening in our country. “The danger is underestimated. The provinces have not yet been shaken up.”
The Welberg beekeeper hopes that local politicians will take their responsibility. “Money must be made available so that we can spread traps among the inhabitants. They can help to locate and fight the hornet.”
A sting from an Asian hornet is no more dangerous to humans than other wasp stings. A sting can be more painful. The chance of being stung by a hornet is smaller than that of being stung by an ordinary wasp. Hornets do not come to sweets and food.