Incidence and predation rate of hornet (Vespa spp.) on European honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) apiary at mid-hill areas of Lalitpur district, Nepal

Abstract

Predatory hornets are considered as one of the major constraints to beekeeping industry. Therefore, its incidence and predation rate was studied throughout the year at two locations- rural and forest areas of mid-hill in Laliptur district during 2016/017 to 2017/018. Observation was made on the number of hornet and honey bee captured by hornet in three different times of the day for three continuous minutes every fortnightly on five honeybee colonies. During the study period, major hornet species captured around the honeybee apiary at both locations were, Vespa velutina Lepeletier, Vespa basalis Smith, Vespa tropica (Linnaeus) and Vespa mandarina Smith. The hornet incidence varied significantly between the years and locations along with different observation dates. Their incidence and predation rates were low in early spring and summer that gradually increased with the highest peak in October and November in both locations. The maximum predation was on mid-November (62.07%) and early-November (53.49%) at rural and forest locations, respectively during 2016/017. In 2017/018, the highest predation was on early-November (70.27%) at rural area while it was in mid-November (58.62%) in the apiaries near the forest area. The population of hornet was considerably higher at forest areas and their incidence around the honeybee apiaries were negatively correlated with rainfall. Hence, assessment of the temporal and spatial population variations and predation rates along with weather parameters is helpful in to develop sustainable management plans of the hornet in apiary.

Modeling abundance and risk impact of Vespa velutina nigrithorax (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in Korea: application of a species abundance model

“…Precipitation-related variables in the summer season of Korea (Bio15, Bio13, and Bio12) were found to negatively influence the local abundance of V. v. nigrithorax . High precipitation in the summer might limit the foraging activities of worker hornets, and could potentially constrain feeding of V. v. nigrithorax larvae during their main population growth season 28 , 53 . Conversely, lower precipitation in the driest month, typically the winter season in Korea, was predicted to have a slight negative effect on the abundance of V. v. nigrithorax .…”

Beekeeping in Nepal and Its Status, Challenges and Possibilities: A Review

“…Hornets have been identified as the most dangerous bee predators.V.velutina and V.mandarina are the most abundant and serious enemies of honey bees in beekeeping(Ranabhat & Tamrakar, 2009) Neupane, 2009).Among six species of birds,Dicrurus macrocercus and Dicrurus aeneus are serious perdators which mainly feed on flying honeybees during rainy seasons (Bista et al, 2020).Species of ants such as Componatus sp.,Monomorium sp., and Myrmica sp are seen attacking beehives.Palatar indicus,Ariope areuta are species of spider found attacking beehives.One species od beetle, One chalcid and lizards were identified as natural enemies of bees. Viral diseases such as Thai sac brood virus, bacterial diseases such as American Foulbrood and European Foulbrood, protozoan diseases such as nosema diseases,amoebic disease, septicaemia and fungal diseases such as chalkbrood are all frequently seen diseases in honeybees (Amiri et al, 2017).…”

Ensemble of Small Models As a Tool For Alien Invasive Species Management Planning: Evaluation of Vespa Velutina (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) Under Mediterranean Island Conditions

“…The precipitation in summer (warmest quarter) was negatively correlated with suitability (Fig.3), thus playing an important role in the pest ecology. During summer pest growths exponentially and demands high amounts of proteins (Monceau, Bonnard, and Thiéry 2014), but high precipitation values could limit its predation activity(Bista et al 2020a(Bista et al , 2020b. After wintering, foundress queens emerge and start building a delicate primary nest, where site selection is closely linked to protection from adverse weather (Monceau and Thiéry 2016).…”