Giant Asian hornets 'killing off our honey bees'

KENT NEWS: Killer hornets from across the Channel could be driving honey bees from their hives.

The giant insects – around four times the size of the British bee – are believed to be travelling from France and forcing the small honey bee from its home.

In scenes more likely to be seen in a horror film, the hornets hover in front of a hive, picking off their victims before ripping off the heads, wings and legs and feeding the body to their young.

The rest of the bee colony is then weakened, leaving the hornets free to loot the hive.

Although bee-lovers warned of their potential arrival to the UK just months ago, wildlife expert Kerry King, from Hythe, believes they may have already arrived.

“There’s a hive in Sandling Park which has had honey bees for 10 years, but in February they suddenly left,” he said.

“Pesticides aren’t used there so it couldn’t be that, and the bees disappeared so suddenly.

“It wouldn’t be hard for these hornets to come over from France. If there is a change in wind direction they could be swept across – it’s only 21 miles.

“They could even come across on the ferries.”

This new predator, which is two inches long with a three-inch wingspan, is the Asian hornet, or vespa velutina nigrithorax, first seen in France in 2004.

The species is thought to have arrived in Bordeaux from China in a consignment of pottery designed for horticultural trade.

In 2007, apiaries around the French region began to see up to 70 per cent losses in bee colonies and it was soon discovered that the monster insects, in groups of up to 50, had been on a killing spree.

One hornet can kill up to 40 honey bees in a minute – a group of them up to 30,000 in a few hours.

Mr King said: “There are three things going against our honey bees; pesticides, parasites and these hornets. It’s going to have a detrimental effect on our economy if there are no honey bees to carry out pollination.”

A third of foodstuffs are dependant on pollination by honey bees, which also provide more than 50 per cent of the pollination of wild plants that other wildlife depends on.

While Asian bees have evolved to cope with the attacks, where some 500 bees will mob the hornet causing it to overheat, the European honey bee is unlikely to survive.

Three months ago experts from honey bee health specialist Vita said the hornet threat to honey bees was spreading rapidly through France and would soon be in the UK.