They are connected, as the invasion of one is going to affect the production of the other. Asian Hornets are on the increase and are something we should be worried about.

Stings!

Getting stung by the giant Asian Hornet will hurt, particularly as the toxicity is greater than most stinging insects, and feels similar to being stabbed by a red-hot needle, and will swell and ache for a few days. You are advised to wash the area thoroughly with soap and cool water and apply ice to slow the venom spreading further, you can take an antihistamine or apply hydrocortisone cream or calamine to reduce the stinging and itching sensation. They don't leave a stinger so you don’t need to worry about removing one.

But a further warning - If you have been stung multiple times and you start to have trouble breathing or find yourself wheezing or short of breath, you might be having an allergic reaction, so seek medical help, particularly if your throat starts to feel tight and you have difficulty swallowing. If you have an allergy to wasps, bees, etc you should always carry a bee sting kit and know how to use it.

How did the Asian Hornet become so widespread?

The Asian Hornet (Vespa velutina) is a giant in the insect world and is a vicious predator. It is believed that one queen Asian Hornet, having stowed away in Chinese pottery, was shipped to Bordeaux in 2004, and from her one nest up 500 new queens could possibly have emerged. Twenty years on, France is home to an estimated 500,000 nests, and the hornet has moved into Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and even the UK, with some experts also believing that with favourable winds, a hornet could cross the Channel by itself.

They are here in Portugal

This invasive species has already been identified in several localities in the North of Portugal, and it was reported quite recently that a 66-year-old man was stung and died – apparently not from the sting itself, but from going into cardiac arrest after being stung. Apparently, he was helping to clear forest land and probably disturbed a nest.

This yellow-legged beastie is a hornet species indigenous to Southeast Asia, and due to their habit of hunting honeybees, honey producers are worried about them invading bee colonies, not only affecting honey production but also affecting the pollination of the flora.

Credits: PA;

Hives are ‘restaurants’ for hornets

Asian hornets have been widely observed hovering outside beehives and picking off worker bees as they emerge, and have been likened to a restaurant for the hornets, with just one Asian Hornet able to kill and eat up to 50 honeybees a day, and as few as 30 hornets can kill an entire colony of bees in just one hour. They kill very quickly by decapitating the bee, removing its legs and wings and squishing the body into a ball for transport. There are also reports that they will enter the honey bee colony and steal eggs, larvae and pupae.

Their collective impact is more significant - their nests are large and can grow to the size of a watermelon, and each can contain around 3,000 hornets, with a single nest consuming 11.3kg of insects each summer – that’s a lot of insects, and could create an imbalance on biodiversity that could be very significant.

They can regulate the temperature of their nests by regurgitating water from their mandibles and by vibrating their wings to cool down the colony. These adaptations keep the nest active and allow them to hunt during extreme high or low temperatures, so are well able to look after themselves, whatever the weather.

Bee Aware

In Portugal, if you discover an Asian hornet or its nest, it is advisable to report it to the special association: https://stopvespa.icnf.pt/ and in many regions, you would be wise to contact local authorities or firefighters to remove the nest. Don’t try to not to knock it down and destroy it independently, particularly by burning as there is a serious risk to the environment if your fire gets out of hand.

Author

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan