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Mysterious new blight killing hornets?
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Posted by acer (My Page) on Fri, Sep 23, 11 at 11:00
| This summer we had at least three large hornet's nests around our property. I don't know the scientific name, we call them bald-faced hornets here in NC. The largest nest was almost beachball-sized. Now we've noticed they're all inactive. Dead. The big nest fell last night after some rain, and the inside chambers look rotten and are covered in a powdery green mold. There was also a little bit of fuzzy yellow mold that spread out it in fingers. One lone hornet clung to the outside. Some other hives about 20 miles away have also apparently died. Except for a little bit of rain recently, it's been pretty dry here this summer, and the hives seemingly died during the dry spell. Is this something new, or something I just never heard of before? I hope it doesn't spread to honeybees. |
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RE: Mysterious new blight killing hornets?
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| Go to the bottom of this page, click on the "Contact Us" tab, and you will get a short form to fill out. Report it as "forum abuse". I hope you will report this - it has been happening in some of the other Nature forums too. In fact, the Sustaining Our Environment forum is totally trashed. They are getting tired of hearing from me, so I hope others will complain also. About the dead hornet hives, it is called Colony Collapse Disorder, and it is already happening big time to the honeybees. One of the major causes is the use of systemic insecticides (banned in Europe by the way) which get into the capillary system of the plant then exuded into the nectar and pollen. It kills all pollinators, not just bees. Here are two links discussing it. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/25/why-are-the-bees-disappearing.aspx?e_cid=20110925_SNL_Art_1 Also see below. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Why the bees are dying
RE: Mysterious new blight killing hornets?
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| Hornets aren't subject to colony collapse. Further, yellowjackets and hornets have annual colonies. All members except the mated queens die at the end of the season. Thus, the nest is empty and eventually falls of its own accord. |
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