Asian giant hornets are unwelcome on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border and officials and citizen scientists will be trapping and exterminating accordingly.
B.C. and Washington state governments co-hosted a virtual press conference Wednesday to discuss their co-operative efforts to find and eradicate the invasive hornets.
A B.C. ministry of agriculture press release noted that sa国际传媒渃omprehensive surveyssa国际传媒� will take place in Nanaimo and the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island and in between White Rock and Aldergrove in the Fraser Valley. Washington announced changes to its trapping efforts and hopes sa国际传媒渃itizen scientistssa国际传媒� will help set up traps baited with orange juice and brown sugar syrup.
Provincial apiculturist Paul van Westendorp said hesa国际传媒檚 grateful for a pheromone sa国际传媒渕agic elixirsa国际传媒� provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture that will be used in some traps. There were about 60 traps, baited with orange juice and rice wine, set up in areas close to the U.S. border last year and van Westendorp said a greater number of traps will be set this year sa国际传媒渟imply because of the increased activity that is taking place in Washington state.sa国际传媒�
Last year, six hornet specimens were collected in the Fraser Valley, all found by members of the public, and none were found on Vancouver Island. The province says the Island sa国际传媒渃ould be declared Asian giant hornet-freesa国际传媒� if no more of the insects are found there this year.
Van Westendorp said numerous agencies, beekeepers and other members of the public will play a sa国际传媒渃riticalsa国际传媒� role in the success of the survey efforts and said the province will be providing more information about trapping.
He said Asian giant hornets, as an apex predator, are not very densely populated in their natural range.
sa国际传媒淭hey will be there and theysa国际传媒檙e very dangerous when you actually run into them, but the number of them is going to be very limited and that is in fact one of the main reasons we have so much trouble finding these darn nests, because there are so few of them around,sa国际传媒� van Westendorp said.
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Sven-Erik Spichiger, managing entomologist with the WSDA, said the giant hornets found in Nanaimo in 2019 were genetically linked to giant hornets from Japan, whereas the hornets found in Blaine, Wash., were more closely linked to hornets in South Korea. Van Westendorp said that suggests separate introductions of the species has happened and can happen again.
Asian giant hornets have been called sa国际传媒榤urder hornetssa国际传媒� because of their propensity to decapitate honeybees. Van Westendorp said the hornets are hazardous to humans, pets and livestock and not only kill bees, but also wasps and yellow jackets, which could cause unknown impacts on ecosystems.
sa国际传媒淲hen you ask what is the serious threat, even past your dog or heaven forbid your child stumbling into a nest while walking through the woods, having an apiary taken out in sa国际传媒� less than a week and the massive expense that a beekeeper would incur and what the ramifications are of having a beekeeper who is trusted by a farmer to come by and perform pollination services the next year, there are some cascading effects to agriculture that are actually really severe,sa国际传媒� Spichiger said.
British Columbians can report Asian giant hornet sightings to the Invasive Species Council of B.C. by calling 1-888-933-3722, using the councilsa国际传媒檚 Report Invasives mobile app or visiting .
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