Vespa Velutina in Galicia, Spain – Catching the Asian Hornet

Asian Hornet or Vespa Velutina

Vespa Velutina also referred to as the Asian Hornet, or the yellow-legged hornet, is an invasive species of hornet which seems to be making a big impact in Spain.

Where I’m now based in Galicia, the Velutina are common in my garden and in the past few weeks have really come out in force. They seem to love pear trees, fig trees, grapevines, and just about any other sweet fruits. Obviously there’s nothing about them which makes them edible – I just wanted to share my own findings about them here on the blog.

Asian Hornet or Vespa Velutina

They’ve not just spread to Spain though; they’ve also been found commonly in France and Italy, and it’s highly likely they’ll eventually go further – there have been a few sightings in the UK, but most of those seem to have been dealt with pretty swiftly by relevant authorities.

Here’s a PDF from the UK’s Non-Native Species secretariat organisation (NSSS) on identifying the Asian Hornet.

How to catch the Asian Hornet (Vespa Velutina)

For me I’ve simply been using old plastic water bottles to catch Velutina, making use of old beer, wine, or a mixture of sugar and vinegar.

Instructions for making a Vespa Velutina trap:

  1. Take a large (1 litre+) plastic bottle and carefully remove the neck.
  2. Take another large plastic bottle and mid-way down the side cut a small circle, large enough to insert the neck of the other bottle. This will be the entrance Velutina use to get inside the bottle.
  3. Fill the bottle with a sweet liquid; old beer seems to work well (around 4% ideally) or wine.
  4. Tie string around the bottle (if your bottle has a plastic handle, this works perfectly) and hang in a suitable location, such as a fruit tree.
  5. Monitor the trap regularly to ensure you’re not trapping and killing native bees, wasps or other insects.

The idea is that the Velutina can enter the trap easily, being funnelled inside, but lack the ability to escape through the same entrance (which is only a few millimetres in diameter from the inside). There’s more information available on trapping Velutina here from the National Bee Unit, based in the UK.

How long have Vespa Velutina been in Spain?

According to Google Trends, it’s clear that searches for “Velutina” really took a sharp rise in Summer last year within Spain – check the graph from Google below. According to this, the last few weeks in July saw a huge increase in searches within Spain – so this is likely when Velutina are most active in that particular country.

If we look specifically at the regions within Spain that have a problem with Velutina, we’d probably determine that Galicia seems to the region most affected by them:

Reporting Vespa Velutina sightings or nests

Nests are extremely dangerous and shouldn’t be tackled on your own. Ideally you should contact your local council authority to ask for advice when it comes to removing Velutina nests. They are too dangerous to even consider attempting to remove without professional help.

Have you been indundated with Velutina where you are? I’d be interested to hear – especially if you have any other tips on catching them, or which baits to use in the trap.

An Interview with Amber Westfall from The Wild Garden in Ottawa

Amber Westall from The Wild Garden

Back in March I had the pleasure of speaking with Amber Westfall, forager and owner of The Wild Garden in Ottawa, Canada. Amber is heavily involved with foraging for wild edibles and medicinal plants, and she devotes her time to this and running a small-scale business that delivers foraged boxes in the post every month.

Wild Garden Ottawa
The Wild Garden Ottawa

I was interested in learning more about Amber and the work she’s doing out in Ottawa so I had a chat with her, the transcript you can find below. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed speaking with her, she was incredibly knowledgeable about many wild plants and refreshingly enthusiastic about foraging and permaculture!

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Now is the Perfect Time to pick Hazelnuts or Cobnuts

Now is the perfect time to be harvesting and collecting Hazelnuts (or Cobnuts) from trees and hedgerows in the wild. There are many different Hazelnut trees growing throughout the United Kingdom, especially in places like Kent, Dorset, Worcestershire and Devon. They are still grown commercially in many of these locations, though when cultivated or grown this way the nut is usually larger, and is referred to as a Cobnut.

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How to Catch Signal Crayfish

American Signal Crayfish

If you’re interested in foraging for wild food then it’s highly likely that you’ve heard about the plight of the Signal crayfish in England. In this article we’ll take a look at a bit of the background story involving Signal crayfish, and then we’ll dive deep into how to catch them – including applying for a license, getting the traps, and most importantly finding a stretch of water in the UK* that contains the non-native crayfish.

*It’s worth noting that the situation in Scotland is very different to that of the rest of the UK – it is illegal to possess a live crayfish in Scotland. Anyone who witnesses the trapping or moving of crayfish is encouraged to report it to Police Scotland using the non-emergency 101 phone number, or online: Report Wildlife Crime – Police Scotland

Signal crayfish are not widespread in Scotland, so conservation efforts concentrate on preventing them from spreading, and eradicating them where it is possible, to protect our uninvaded waters.

Trapping signal crayfish in Scotland would likely make the problem far worse as traps tend to favour larger male individuals, removing natural predation within the population (the big ones cannibalise the small ones and can help keep the population in check) so leaving a younger, more readily reproducing population that spreads more quickly. Trapping will not control or eradicate a population, and commercial trapping or trapping for personal use is not permitted in Scotland. The NatureScot licensing team only issue licences for crayfish trapping under exceptional circumstances because the risk of encouraging their spread is so great. They only issue licenses for survey work to monitor the distribution and spread of signal crayfish in Scotland. They don’t issue licenses for the purpose of catching crayfish to eat because in addition to the problems above this also creates incentives for people to move them to new areas.

 

American Crayfish
Photo of the Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) by Astacoides

Background story of the Signal Crayfish – Why are they here?

This American Signal crayfish was introduced to the UK in the late 70’s as part of an aquaculture program to farm the crustacean to be used as a source of food.

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Chestnut Soup Recipe

Its that time of year again – Autumn is just about here and winter won’t be too far away, meaning that chesnuts will be available again!
Sweet chestnuts are not only very good for you but they are delicious too, and very versatile. You can use them to make soup, flour, and much more. They taste great just roasted on an open fire, but one of my favourite recipes is a chesnut soup.
It may be best to wait until the frost has arrived before picking, so you may be best to pick chestnuts at around November/December time. But if you see any that have already started dropping onto the floor of the forests then it would be a shame for them to go to waste (obviously leave some for the animals though!).

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