Transhumance of Honey Bees due to Asian Hornet Invasion

The recent invasion of Asian Hornets to France presents a increasing risk to the livelihoods of beekeepers. The Asian Hornet, Vespa velutina, is thought to have arrived in the country in a shipment of pottery from China in 2004. Since then, it has spread rapidly throughout France at an exponential rate of population growth. Unlike the the native European Hornet, which will attack and kill the odd honey bee in small numbers as a food source for their larvae, Asian hornets prey primarily on...
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The recent invasion of Asian Hornets to France presents a increasing risk to the livelihoods of beekeepers. The Asian Hornet, Vespa velutina, is thought to have arrived in the country in a shipment of pottery from China in 2004. Since then, it has spread rapidly throughout France at an exponential rate of population growth. Unlike the the native European Hornet, which will attack and kill the odd honey bee in small numbers as a food source for their larvae, Asian hornets prey primarily on honeybees - and France's bees cannot defend themselves against them. As such they pose a significant threat to the livelihood of the native bee population, especially in the South of France, where the climate provides a longer season for the hornet colonies to hunt.

Among measures to protect their hives from these predators, some beekeepers have to move their hives to high altitude areas where the Asian hornets are not yet established, in a seasonal transhumance. For the first time last year, beekeeper Amanda Dowd, was forced to moved her 12 beehives from their location in a rural valley on the French Riviera up to the foothills of the French Alps during the summer and autumn, to protect them from packs of Asian hornets that were decimating her hives. Here, at the end of the winter, the honey stores in the hives are very low, so, with her helper, sshe moves the hives back down to the coast so that her honeybees can benefit from the pollen of spring flowers already in bloom at lower altitudes, before the hornet season begins.
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