With the rise of the warm weather, a threat to nature also comes back to life. The queens of the Asian hornet start this month by making their starting nest. And they have recently done that in Drenthe.
Previously, the Asian hornet was only found with our southern neighbors, but the insect has also discovered Drenthe as new home since last year. “The animal causes slaughter among the bee colonies,” says Roel Broekman, coordinator Asian hornet Drenthe.
Not only bee colonies are victims, the Asian hornet hunts for different insects to provide their larvae with food. An adult nest can eat no less than 11 kilos of insects during its life cycle. “The animals eat a lot of insects, this ultimately influences the pollination and can therefore become a danger to the entire biodiversity.” Says Rob Smeenk, himself beekeeper and treasurer of the bee association Assen.
At the moment the fertilized queens come from their hibernation, looking for a quiet place to make a new home. “Only a few queens fit on a hectare of land, then they get in the way. Since it was pretty full in the south, the animals also went looking for beautiful places in the northern provinces,” Smeenk says.
The starting nest, which is not much larger than a ping -pong ball, is often found in sheds, garden sheds, under roofs or even in the bushes. Ultimately, the nest can grow to the size of a skippyball, populated by thousands of so -called workers.
When this is the case around the summer, the animals are often more aggressive than now. Smeenk: “They then start with stabbing and spitting a kind of poison, which can lead to temporary blindness. Distributors will therefore work with a suit with a kind of diving glasses.”
In the southern provinces of the Netherlands, the animal is already so numerous that eradication is no longer possible. Broekman: “Consistent policy can certainly delay the process of distribution in the north. It is necessary that one becomes aware of the damage it causes. The more starting nests we now find the better.”