On Saturday I decided to swat some Asian Hornets - armed with an old badminton racket.
For ten minutes I swished, stamped and swatted several hornets, like a whirling dervish - not a practical solution to control the threat from these pests in the longterm, but satisfying !
However, worryingly whilst I was there, the activety was very different between the hives :
Hive 2 - lots of bees massing on the front of the hive,
Hive 1 - seemed deserted, but from time to time a bee crossed the threshold, coming in or out, foraging
Hive 3 - zero activety - apart from one bee seeming to be a bit lost, hovering near the hornet cage infront of the entry, but not actualy making it in.
Had the hornets done their worst ???
But later in the day, there seemed to be plenty of activety around Hive 1 & and Hive 3, Phew !
On Sunday I opened up the hives just to double check - inside plenty of bees , although the top boxes not as busy as in the past...
So I wonder - do they have a rota system ? or a means of knowing when the Hornets are present not to go out ?