Asian wasps became the fear of Europe

The French mobilized unmanned aircraft in an effort to destroy Asian hornets, but they still have not achieved any significant results.

Asian hornets are bombarding France

According to AFP, Asian wasps appeared in France 10 years ago, when they followed a shipment of ceramics from China. Since then, they have raged in more than half of the country.

Asian giant wasps are nearly 5cm long.(Photo: Daily Mail)

Asian wasps are 'common enemies' in many parts of France. According to experts, they "re-feed" native bees and threaten biodiversity. They are an insect species in temperate and tropical East Asia. With a length of nearly 5 cm, Asian wasps are the largest and most dangerous bees. Their venom attacks the nervous system and is life-threatening if not treated promptly after being burned.

"They grow in large numbers and cause problems," said Eric Darrouzet, a biologist at the Institute of Insect Biology Research (IRBI), but stressed that the scientific community is giving a lot. solution.

Etienne Roumailhac, an insect expert, said he was too tired to destroy at least six Asian hornets in the Landes area on the Atlantic coast. Each honeycomb contains thousands.

'I see them everywhere, from gardens, mailboxes, radiators in cars, to watering cans. It prepared to be a wilderness , 'he said. The number of wasps peaked in the middle of summer. Each honeycomb is 20cm or even 70cm long and lies on the tree.

Black list

A French citizen gave reporters a view of the nest of Asian hornets.(Photo: Redorbit)

Roumailhac tried mobilizing unmanned aircraft (UAV) to destroy giant bees. However, the operation of this vehicle is difficult to implement in urban areas. They are also easy to get into branches and getting a UAV license is not easy. Roumailhac mainly uses the fishing rod to spray insecticides into the bees' nest.

Even Francis Ithurburu, an amateur beekeeper in the town of Biscarrosse, mobilized chickens in an effort to prevent the "destruction" of giant bees. However, everything failed.

In 2012, France listed Asian wasps on the list of 'one of the tropical insects that harm the beekeeping'. Last year, the French government temporarily allowed people to use sulfur dioxide, a chemical that could cause respiratory problems for humans, to destroy dangerous bees.

However, hornets were 'cross-border' through Spain, Portugal, Italy and Belgium. In April, he listed Asian bees on a blacklist of deadly creatures because they feared they would soon cross the strait and come to live on the country's coasts. During the critical period, the British media reported that six Frenchmen were killed by the bites of the "killer bee".

Kill hornets with "biological warfare"

A beekeeper holds a nest of Asian hornets in a garden near Parempuyre.(Photo: AFP)

'This is an animal that is highly adaptable and exists everywhere. Their food is hornets, flies, beetles and many other natural pollinators, " said Franck Muller, a researcher on Asian wasps at the Museum of Natural History in Paris, to speak.

According to Mr. Muller, the fact that people make traps by themselves is not only effective for Asian bees, but also for killing native bees. Some toxic substances have killed between 100 and 1,000 native bees, wasps and other pollinators.

In the process of seeking solutions to eliminate Asian wasps, biologist Darrouzet said that IRBI had discovered a species of aggressive larvae named Conops Vesicularis last year. They live parasitic on the belly of the queen bee. Each time the queen bee hatches the eggs, the larvae will eat the bees.

Although experts are still studying, Mr. Darrouzet particularly appreciates the 'biological warfare' approach. He conducted many experiments and said that this is a 100% accurate choice to kill Asian wasps. According to biologists, this method will be applied in 2015.