"vespa velutina" : under its threat

2017 02 14 + 2017 02 27 + 2017 04 07

 FIND THE HIVE TO BE DESTROYED BY A PROFESSIONAL

All black with an orange / brown circle, this is a very dangerous insect named "frelon asiatique". You can easily recognize with yellow paws.

DANGEROUS because :

1/ it is always ABOVE our heads : imagine a sort of helicopter in its fly,

2/ its movements are very FAST and FURIOUS, very more faster than you, even in running as a sprinter ...

3/ they are not like bees one we are used to be, they are STARS (doodelings sort of) trajectories that you could not anticipate,

4/ WHEN IT STINGS, YOU ARE IN DEATH DANGER, MOSTLY BECAUSE "ONE" IS NOT IN ITS GENES, THEY LIVE IN COMPACT GROUPS AND THE "ONE" YOU CAN SEE IS RARELY ALONE !!!

HOW TO RECOGNIZE

We can see their colony in automn or in winter, when trees have no leeves, looking for something round, looking like antique paper in trees, grey white colors, and if you do not look at really, you could imagine that it is a bouquet of mistletoe.

BUT it could be really EVERYWHERE because a QUEEN could prepare it anywhere ! In roofing cracks, hangars, and I even saw photos of one builted in motocycle helmet !

"frelon asiatique" is all black with and orange circle and yellow paws. You cannot confuse with our usual "frelon" yellow and black everywhere. AND PLEASE, DO NOT KILL "FRELON" BECAUSE THIS BEAUTY FIGHT AGAINST "FRELONS ASIATIQUES" and it will not attack you (except defending its life) !

IN MARCH, BE AWARE !

Soon, the queens will quit where they sleep actually and go out to find good food for her. IT IS THE BETTER TIME TO FOLLOW AND FIND THE COLONY.

Try to resist to your killing instinct because queens fight against each others and their number - very impressive - will decrease naturally. If you kill one queen, you leave much more to prepare quietly a colony of her own.

WE WANT TO FIND AND ERADICATE THE COLONIES : THEY ARE BEES KILLERS !

WE LIKE BEES AND HONEY !

To prepare her colonies, the queens attacks bees. They plunge and cut in two our unfortuned bees we love so much to feeding her larvae. They are intelligent and go directly where HONEY is, that's mean : near or in the hives, where bees are. They could totally destroy a hive.

Bees could not defend, only asian bees could when they are working togheter, with their wings, to increase temperature at the entry of the hive.

VESPA VELUTINA, scientific name of "frelon asiatique", do not resist to hot temperature and die.

So, in Loir-et-cher they tried to destroy at night - in the day, all individuals are not in the colony - with hunters, in a strict protocole to be sure no one would be hurted and not to propagate a fire ! DO NOT DO IT ALONE BY YOURSELF !

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO CAPTURE AND DESTROY ALL INDIVIDUALS IN THE VESPA VELUTINA HIVE BECAUSE  ABOUT 5 000 - i really wrote three zero behind number five and this is a minima, it could be 15 000 - INDIVIDUALS COULD CREATE NEW HIVES IN 60 KILOMETERS AROUND WITH EACH SURVIVING ! and that is why we are under the threat

Do you have "frelon asiatique" in your yard ?

IN MARCH, as soon as the sun will shine, you could see bumblebees. They are usually first before bees. Prepare your search.

1/ YOU DO NOT SEE VESPA VELUTINA ON YOUR FLOWERS

Find a place in your yard where you could put on compost fresh exotic fruits as pineapple, mango, and fresh shrimp carcasses (of course you had eaten fruits and shrimps, all the best before, in a succulent lunch or diner !). It will send vespa velutina a very attractive smell around. Put everything in a box with a lid you will open and throw away at the last minute when you are ready to observe in a safe place.

CHOOSE THE PERFECT PLACE TO OBSERVE ALL AROUND, and choose "exotic" fruits because others insects as bees do not like so much this kind of food.  Schrimp is irristible ( message personnel : au lieu de mettre des carcasses de crevettes roses dans ma purée industrielle, pouvez-vous nous fabriquer des kits de test pour frelons asiatiques ?), fish is attractive too. IT IS POSSIBLE ONLY WHEN QUEENS ARE ALONE, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SPRING WHEN THEY ARE HUNGRY, AFTER IT IS TOO DANGEROUS ! You could prepare food for butterflies too (apples and pears). To discover where is the hive, you can observe how many minutes specimen arrives when you put on fresh food. It could be only few seconds !

Wait if you could see one (or more) vespa velutina. IF YOU COULD SEE ONE, BE VERY AWARE BECAUSE THIS INSECT COULD ATTACK YOU UNDER 6 METERS AROUND HER HIVE ! DO NOT MOVE, WAIT FOR "FRELON ASIATIQUE" TO GO ! The queens are just interested in FOOD ! DO NOT DISTURB. IF ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, MOVE VERY SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY. It is very sensitive to air movement and noise. It always get higher in the air to observe before sting on its prey. You would be safe 15 meters around its nest if it did not take you in chase !

2/ YOU CAN SEE "FRELON ASIATIQUE" , or YOU CAN EAR BUZZING :

YOU COULD BE SURE A HIVE IS LIVING AND GROWING NEXT TO YOU ! - FIND IT !

First, LISTEN CAREFULLY if you could ear  BUZZING : "frelon asiatique" produces very characteristic sounds. If you cannot see any but ear that noise, you could be sure a hive is hidden somewhere next to you.

3/ OK, you know where the hive is ! ASK FOR HELP.

You can go to the City Hall. Some towns send you directly a professional, others will help you to pay for destruction, others do ... nothing : bigger and higher the hive is and more the bill is heavy to pay ! That is why some owners or municipalities do nothing, wishing the problem will be the neighbor's problem next year. Yes, the hive is there for just one year. After summer, vespa velutina left the hive to hide away and multiply on all over the country. Could you imagine how exponential is that multiplication ? Would you like to be surprised in your gardening activities WITHOUT any protecting clothing ? Would you like to wear a scuba suit at every step outdoor ?

Some people told me "i don't care, i vaporize the insecticide preventively before working". What about just going outside if the hive is in your roof, or near a window ? What about fruits and vegetables ? Do you think you will obtain juicy ones without bees, frelons, and without birds you will poison them with too ? Are you sure kids and babies will not suffer to inhale ?

Some professionals leave the hive behind after vaporization. I do not appreciate this method because you cannot know if you are always under a threat or not. And it could poison birds.

IF YOU ARE STUNG,

RUN TO HOSPITAL  !

Gizmo, my "gremlins" looking wild cat ...

2016 11 14

A female cat is singing "la sérénade" in my backyard ...

Maybe i will have some little cats coming from outside a wood stock one day or the other.

Usually, the Mother comes with a baby in front of her to show him to you. She observes your reaction and if it sounds "positive answer", she brings you back the ultimate cute family she is proud of !

This female in the backyard is wild. I did not noticed she was here before my "rognons experience" when i through on  "fumier" my spoiled meal ! I cannot catch her. When she will have babies, she will ask for good food ...

I hope my husband and i are enough "cat cares" people so maybe one cat will decide to adopt our home and to stay with us ... but you know : cats always decides where and whom they want to live with.

Maybe we will call him (or her) "Gizmo" : a wild cat in a house is always ... unexpected !  Remember Gizmo tied in the flashing electric lights of the Christmas tree ... a pet can save your life and all we need is one Brave !