France in Focus

I put traps out in February in the hope of catching a queen or two. By the time I took them down about 3 weeks ago, I'd caught 3 or 4. Since then, I've seen nothing in the garden ..... until today.
There was an Asian Hornet on the sycamore flowers. I wasn't 100% sure because he was in the shade, but a photo, well lifted showed I was right.
So the traps are going back. I've held off because I wanted to avoid catching other insects but the Asiatique is a definite no-no.

Two years ago, our house in France provided shelter to a large swarm of bees. After six weeks, a few days before the beekeeper came round, Asian hornets suddenly appeared in the air. Sometimes they would fly off with a struggling bee in tow, sometimes they were attacked by a few alert defenders who would then engage in battle in a group of five or six. Such an attacker usually didn’t survive and several brave defenders were also killed, not a pretty sight. The bee colony was saved from worse suffering. So I’m not particularly fond of those aggressive Asian hornets.

RobertArthur wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 1:52 pm So I’m not particularly fond of those aggressive Asian hornets.

Me either ! I hate them and we have a LOT of them every year. Our traps went out in early March and we have caught many and continue to.

Lori wrote: ↑Mon Apr 27, 2026 8:33 am Our traps went out in early March and we have caught many and continue to.

You may well have succeeded in catching queens preparing to nest early in the season.
I'm not sure there's enough encouragement in communes to put traps out early. Yes, there is always the downside of catching innocent victims (moths, flies etc). But the Asian Hornet is an aggressive beast and if queens were caught early on, it would at least reduce the population and harm to bees.

I had them for three years in my chimney stack. So far this year they haven't returned. I bought traps and they didn't work. The swines somehow find there way indoors. No fun at all chasing them around trying to nail them with toxic aerosols.