It is extra careful when you shave the hedge, warns the Flemish Bee Institute after three incidents with Asian hornets.
The Flemish Bee Institute (VBI) has received three reports of serious stabbing incidents involving Asian hornets in the past week. Each time it concerned municipal workers who were shaving hedges. Two of the workers had to be taken to hospital. The VBI recommends taking a good look at a hedge before you start pruning.
Primary, smaller nests of the Asian hornet were located in the hedgerows. The beasts attacked the workers because they wanted to defend their nests. In Reet, a worker was stabbed seven times and had to stay in hospital overnight. A worker who was attacked in Wilsele was also admitted overnight. A third incident was recorded in Begijnendijk.
The warning from the Flemish Bee Institute applies to all of Flanders. ‘Especially West and East Flanders and Flemish Brabant have a large presence of Asian hornets, but the numbers are also growing in Antwerp and Limburg,’ says René De Backer, chairman of the VBI.
In France, the risks of trimming hedges have been known for some time. A number of people died there when they wanted to shave a hedge in which hornets had made a nest. ‘For the time being, the impact on us was still limited, because the attacks occurred early in the season and the nests still contained few workers,’ explains De Backer.
The VBI organizes training courses for green services. The organization has also been advocating a centralized policy to combat the insects for some time. “The Asian hornet is here to stay, but we have to try to keep the numbers limited,” says De Backer. ‘Unfortunately, the policy does not want to go along. The Agency for Nature and Forests (ANB) only operates on its own grounds, and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries focuses on beekeeping. Nature and Forest refers private individuals to the fire brigade, but various fire departments have already indicated that they cannot handle the many assignments.’
In the Environment Committee of the Flemish Parliament, Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA) indicated on Tuesday that the centralized policy requested by VBI is not imminent. “It’s really a problem for the beekeepers now,” Demir said. ‘From what I understand, Asian hornets are very lazy and mainly attack the bees kept by beekeepers. So far there is no indication that there would be a major impact on biodiversity.’
2023-07-05 19:02:00
#Asian #hornets #sting #municipal #workers #trimming #hedges
