As the nests are now revealed in broad daylight, there is a great temptation to resort to the services of specialized operators. Right? Not really according to Mr. Demarbaix, given the weather conditions of recent weeks.
“With wet weather, cool nights, and even night frosts, Asian hornet nests are at the end of their lifespan. There is usually nothing left to do at this time of year because they are either inactive or wasting away.”
The Leuze professional travels thousands of kilometers each year across Picardy Wallonia, Borinage and the North of France. His pace of work, which has been so frantic since the beginning of spring, has now slowed down significantly.
“The founders (future queens) have mostly already left the nests, as soon as temperatures reach less than 10 degrees for a few days, to hibernate elsewhere, generally in discreet shelters such as piles of leaves, cracks, tree trunks. trees… From late autumn until spring, a nest visible up high is empty and decomposing. It will not be reoccupied the following year. It is therefore not necessary to remove it. se will disintegrate over time.specifies this former firefighter, who recently swapped the uniform for an outfit worthy of an astronaut.
It must be said that these pests are far from being harmless to humans (Editor’s note: certain bites can even prove fatal) and their elimination requires infinite precautions. “The Asian hornet is no more dangerous than a wasp but it attacks in groups (less than 5 m from the nest), which inevitably increases the risk of multiple stings. This is especially problematic for people with allergies.”
Protected from head to toe by a thick suit, Frédéric Demarbaix operates with the help of a telescopic pole which he uses to pierce hornet nests. “The injected product, an insecticide (Permethrin), is deposited almost everywhere on the alveoli and contaminates the nest filled with larvae and, on average, 500 founders. You have to wait two to three days for the entire colony to be contaminated.”
For the founders who escape the action of man, they should find refuge next spring within a radius of around ten kilometers around their old cocoon, by building a primary nest (the size of a ball of ping-pong or tennis).
Do not risk trying to neutralize a nest without calling on a private company or the fire department. Since January 1, 2024, the Picardy Wallonia rescue zone charges €125 for the intervention (excluding VAT), provided that the nest is not located more than 20 m high.
How can we properly identify this species of the Hymenoptera family compared to the wasp or the European hornet? “The Asian hornet has a blacker body with an orange band at the back and is smaller (3 cm) than the European. This one looks more like a large wasp, whose abdomen is yellow and striped with black.”
