HORNETS OR YELLOW JACKETS KILLED AND ROBBED MY BEES

[c's bees]

Started my first hive in March. Had a hard time from the beginning. Had a drone laying queen. By the time we discovered she was a dud, my bees were dying off fast. Added a nuke and everthing got better. They were all doing great. I inspected the hive 3wks ago and it was beautiful. Yesterday I discovered sooooo many dead bees on the ground in front of the hive and everyone at the entrance just acted and looked sick. An experienced fellow beekeeper came out and we opened the hive. Every single frame was empty of honey and brood!! and there were soooo many more dead bees in the bottom. There were a few hive beetles and some of the bees appeared to have varroa mites on them. The advice I received was to just let it go and try again next spring. There are just not enough bees to survive over the winter and they have NO honey at all. I do believe my bees experienced an attack from hornets or yellow jackets. I watched on youtube what happens during an attack and it is horrific! I am very sad, but will try again next year.

[Wally]

My belief is they got into some pesticide somewhere. A neighbor's garden or flower bed. The hornets you seen on the video were in Japan. We don't have those here.

[ski]

Sorry your only hive didn't make it.
Yellow jackets seem to feed on the dead bees and the hornets seem to pick off a bee at time from what I have seen around my hives.
Maybe next year you can start two hives and then if one doesent make it, it only hurts half as much.

[braswell]

I would never dispute the master BUT, I had a trap out going in Kernersville last week and had to pull out early because of japanesse hornets. These are very large yellow hornets that were hovering near the opening of the trap box and also around the cone eating honey bees until they had there fill. It appeared some honey bees were only killed or wounded but either way these guys came to take over. I have had a run in with these guys before here at the house and they thought they were going to take over here. I used a wash tub with a couple inches of diesel fuel in the bottom_ 2x4 laying over the top of the tub with a light suspended from the board hanging down near the fuel_ 3 nights of that and I won. These guys are nothing to play with, one sting and you will never forget it_ 2 stings and you are hospital bound. They do not build nest out in the open like the black hornet, they will be found in old buildings, cinder blocks wall, hollow trees etc. Peace, RB

[Wally]

The only thing I disagree with in your post is ""Japanese Hornets"".
The hornets you are speaking of are European hornets. The Japanese hornets haven't arrived in the USA yet. Research it and you will see.

The European hornets will grab a bee here and there, but will not devastate a hive in a matter of hours as will the Japanese Hornets.

[Jacobs]

An earlier thread--
http://www.guilfordbeekeepers.org/commu ... f=6&t=1368

Generally, European Hornets are a problem, but not a major threat. I can see where a strong colony of them nearby could pose a threat to hives in some situations. If I can knock down the first/earliest visitors I see in early spring, I think I may be getting the overwintered queen and eliminating hundreds of her future daughters.

[c's bees]

If it was pesticide, why was every frame empty of all the honey and brood that was there?

[Wally]

Neighborhood bees cleaned up the left overs. The hornets are mostly carnivorous. They, and the ants, cleaned out the brood after the bees were gone.

[c's bees]

The bees were not all gone. There were a thousand or so left, maybe more. And, no sign of ants. Oh well, whatever killed most of them did and nothing I can do. Will start over next spring. Thanks for everybody's response.

[braswell]

I can't speak for the rest of Guilford County Keep's that stay tuned to this board BUT, we are fortunate to have The Master and Jacobs. You guys are the best!! I have learned what I know about bees right here. Thanks for responding to all our questions. Thats what I get for disputing the master. RB

[Doug Shaw]

I agree with Baswell and that is why I keep me eye on the various posts made here. Beekeeping is about what works and what doesn't and having trusted advisers such as the ones who regularly post here makes a big difference in how successful you can be as a beekeeper.

[Jacobs]

I look to Wally and Ski for most answers but the more traffic and the more people with answers, the better! We all learn from the exchanges.