Since the first outbreak of the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) was detected in the Alt Empordà and Val d’Aran in 2012, the presence of this invasive species in Catalonia has not stopped growing and is now present in all regions.
To monitor this insect in real time, which has become, together with the varroa mite, one of the main enemies of the honey bee, the University of Girona (UdG) and the Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia (CTFC) have created a mobile application that they will present this Friday at a conference in Santa Coloma de Farners.
With this app, researchers who analyze the impact that the insect is causing on honey bee colonies and beekeepers will be able to periodically monitor the activity of the velutina wasp in the apiaries and keep track of what are the moments when there are more specimens in the hives.
Among other things, this application will allow beekeepers to register settlements (their location, number of weapons, control measures…) and start counts of these specimens. In addition, each beekeeper or person participating in the project, individually, will be able to consult their own data and compare them with other settlements and see the evolution of the wasp graphically.
From the UdG they explain that by participating in this project baptized as ‘Velutina Alert’, beekeepers from different parts of Catlaunya, “it will be possible to obtain global information in real time on the expansion of the vespa velutina in the territory and the activity of each place “.
The project has a duration of three years and is financed by the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda of the Generalitat of Catalonia from European funds.
In parallel, the UdG Animal Biology research group is investigating the impact of the Asian hornet on honey bee colonies. The results obtained to date show that “there is enormous variability” in the presence of the Asian hornet throughout the months, between years and between different areas.
“To date we did not have a tool that would allow us to collect these variations in a relatively large territory, there were mobile applications and web pages to record the observation of Asian hornet individuals or nests, but not a tool aimed at the beekeeping sector” , explains the UdG researcher, Núria Roura.
