At the start of this year, Minister of Agriculture Willy BORSUS takes stock of the 2023 action plan against the Asian hornet and announces the outlook for 2024.
As is well known, the Asian hornet poses a threat to the survival and development of the Walloon beekeeping sector. When present in large numbers, it decimates beehives. Given the expansion of this invasive species across our territory, more and more beekeepers are being directly affected. The long-term consequences could include a decline in the number of honeybee colonies, a pollination deficit for certain crops and wild flora, a scarcity of hive products, and a direct economic loss for the beekeepers concerned. The economic, societal and environmental impacts linked to the decline of the honeybee, though difficult to quantify, are highly damaging.
In this context, the Government of Wallonia, on a proposal from Minister Willy BORSUS, implemented in 2023, through the Recovery Plan, a “Support for the beekeeping sector for the establishment of sustainable management of the Asian hornet”.
This support took the form of a management plan for the Asian hornet problem worth €267,000, divided into three areas of intervention aimed at reducing the pressure of the Asian hornet on beekeeping activity:
- trapping founding queens in spring,
- protecting beehives
- neutralising nests.
In 2023, the CARI non-profit association (Centre apicole de recherche et d'information), the Walloon Agricultural Research Centre (CRA-W) and the UFAWB non-profit association (Union des Fédérations d'Apiculture de Wallonie et de Bruxelles) each took action to manage the Asian hornet.
You can discover their actions below.
The CRA-W has:
- organised 14 training days on neutralisation in 2023: 221 people trained;
- created 2 interactive maps for neutralisation:
- neutralisers: https://www.cra.wallonie.be/fr/carte-des-operateurs-frelon-asiatique ;
- beekeeping sections carrying out neutralisation: https://louishautier.github.io/20231019- carteapiculteursneutralisateursfa2023.html ;
- written a publication on the hornet “Le piégeage de printemps pour lutter contre le frelon asiatique.” Abeilles & Cie.215, July/August 2023;
- organised 7 conferences or events on the Asian hornet;
- set up several field experiments in collaboration with beekeeping sections and test municipalities;
- carried out laboratory experiments.
CARI has:
- held 9 awareness sessions on protecting beehives in beekeeping sections. In total, 233 participants benefited;
- drafted and distributed a public information leaflet on the Asian hornet https://www.cari.be/Toutes-boites-et-depliant-frelon-asiatique.html ;
- produced a customisable door-to-door flyer for Walloon beekeepers to communicate with their neighbours: https://www.cari.be/Toutes-boites-et-depliant-frelon-asiatique.html ;
- published 5 fact sheets on the Asian hornet for beekeepers:
- “Protecting beehives and reducing stress”;
- “Locating and detecting Asian hornet nests”;
- “Asian hornet: biology of the species”;
- “Asian hornet and other hornets introduced in Europe”;
- “Asian hornet: behaviour and aggressiveness”;
- produced 5 video tutorials:
- “The mesh muzzle for a 10-frame Dadant hive”;
- “The mesh muzzle for a Stehr nucleus hive”;
- “3-tube muzzle (Norma-inspired)”;
- “The trap-type net with JabeProde grid - Standard size”;
- “The trap-type net with JabeProde grid - Jumbo size”;
- organised a conference day on the Asian hornet.
UFAWB coordinated the neutralisation component of the management plan. It distributed to 18 beekeeping sections the equipment needed to neutralise nests, namely poles and protective suits for two operators per section. In addition to this practical aspect, UFAWB handled the administrative side and collected information from the sections.
Although the equipment could only be acquired late in the season for technical reasons, nearly 200 nests were neutralised in one month in Wallonia, thanks to all the partners and above all to the commitment of the beekeeping sections and their volunteers.
The 2023 hornet plan will conclude with the CRA-W distributing 4,000 kits for trapping founding queens for spring 2024. Every beekeeper registered with the FASFC will receive a complete kit with two selective traps, the container and instructions for use. In return, the beekeeper agrees to provide feedback and follow the protocol in order to contribute to the large-scale trial, aiming to refine the technique both in terms of effectiveness and selectivity towards non-target insects.
The Minister of Agriculture wishes to renew the action plan for 2024, again based on the three defined areas: trapping founding queens in spring, protecting beehives and neutralising nests, in order to prepare for the 2024 season.
One of the objectives of this new plan, which will soon be submitted to the Government, is to enable new beekeeping sections to acquire neutralisation equipment in order to cover the entire Walloon territory.
According to Willy BORSUS: “Maintaining our beekeeping sector is essential for the pollination of numerous crops, but also for biodiversity in Wallonia. Wallonia's 4,000 beekeepers work with honeybees and produce excellent hive products. Neutralising the Asian hornet, which affects beehives, is a necessary measure to preserve the entire beekeeping sector, and we must continue our actions. In 2023, nearly 200 nests were neutralised thanks to this management plan and the good cooperation between the various partners. I wish to continue supporting the sector in 2024, starting as early as spring, notably thanks to the trap developed by the CRA-W.”
For more information, practical and current fact sheets and videos, please visit:
- http://biodiversite.wallonie.be/fr/le-frelon-asiatique.html?IDC=5999
- CRA-W | Official website of the Centre wallon de Recherches agronomiques (wallonie.be)
- https://www.cari.be/
- www.youtube.com/@cariasblbuzz2beez254/videos
- Butine.info - Butinez l'info apicole
In this context, beekeeping sections that have not been contacted may reach out to Mr Jean-Marc Cheval, Attaché at the Directorate for Quality and Animal Welfare of SPWARNE, at this address: jeanmarc.cheval@spw.wallonie.be.