As few as 4 hawking hornets at the same time reduces the bees foraging by circa 40% and as numbers rise the bees stop foraging completely, stay in the hive consuming their stores and the queen goes off lay. That is countered by putting on a muzzle or shield, which relieves their stress and gets them foraging again so the queen lays the winter bees in September/October. Traps and electric harps can reduce hawking very effectively and reduce predation numbers. Early uniting helps under-strength colonies where bee numbers are a problem. You are spot on with pollen and syrup but don't forget water. Because queens going off lay can also be down to stress (bees may even kill her) it is important not to add stress (e.g. stressful varroa treatments) and to look at the whole problem holistically. High varroa loads, disease, lack of adequate diet all add to the stress load. The hornet can kill the colony on its own but as often as not it is the last straw in a chain.AdamD wrote: ↑24 Feb 2020, 11:12I recall reading that 'hawking' by asian hornets stops bees from foraging which would tie in with the fact that the nucs which were fed protien and carbohydrates have done OK and the full-sized colonies which were only fed carbs did not do so well as they ran out of pollen.
So, the way to keep bees when the asian hornet arrives in the UK could be to feed them pollen substitute and syrup in autumn?
All of this needs to kick in early so the bees are strong enough.
On a brighter note, the latest modelling suggests that hornet nest densities are significantly reduced the further North one gets into the climate zone Maritime North (see my article due in the BBKA News May 2020 edition for more on that).