Meeting Up With A Recent Visitor:
The Asian Giant Hornet
Paul vanWestendorp
Paul, an eight year member of Rotary and the club's photographer, provided us with another view of his talents. As the provinces's head apiarist he described the latest in his many activities; following up on the arrival of of the Asian Giant Hornet vespa mandarina (also known as the Great Japanese Hornet which is really a subspecies). At a length of two inches this ground-nesting specimen is the world's largest hornet. In its annual life cycle the queen awakens from hibernation in the spring, lays its eggs and depends on the drones to go on raids to provide food for the emerging colony. Honey bees are a popular source of food with an entire hive capable of being decimated in hours by this invasive species. As well as its danger to agriculture it can, if disturbed, cause painful damage to humans: hence the concern.
The Department of Agriculture became aware of the hornet's existence in Sept 2019 when a full nest was discovered in Nanaimo . A month later more hornets were reported in the Blaine area. Paul who was actively involved in its pursuit then had to establish co-ordination with his American counterparts as well as the usual provincial bureaucracy. Much of the pursuit is dependent on sightings from local beekeepers who are asked to submit photo evidence which often results in cases of mistaken identity. When an individual hornet is discovered it must be followed back to the nest. Here the use of radio tags, special ribbons and DNA sampling are put into use. Although not necessarily a cause for panic there is no question that it is in our best interest to to keep this invasive species out of the West Coast area.
Ginny Lowood thanked Paul for sharing his expertise in a most educational and entertaining way.