An Invasive Species Killing Bees Can Be Wiped Out With a Strange New Invention
The Asian hornet has become a fast invasive species around the world in recent months. The hornet is especially deadly as it can kill up to 30 European honeybees in a single day.
The invasive species recently threatened to decimate more than one-third of France’s bee colonies in a single year. Beekeepers and environmentalists are excited about the new invention made to fight the invasive species.
Honeybees at Risk
In China, where the hornets were first established, bees and other prey bugs have evolved to have several strategies to evade or fight the hornets.
![A honeybee sits on a purple flower](https://images.caredoctor.com/2024/07/b110afcb-honeybee.jpg)
Source: Aaron Burden/Unsplash
However, in places where the Asian hornets have just entered for the first time, such as the United Kingdom and United States, native bees have no defences. Now, honeybee ecosystem are put at risk, which threatens the world’s ability to grow fruits, vegetables, and plants.
Previous Efforts To Stop the Hornets
Previous efforts to stop the spread of the invasive species have been completely unsuccessful.
![A large Asian hornet flies towards a red rose](https://images.caredoctor.com/2024/07/e87bb883-asian-hornet.jpg)
Source: Assad Tanoli/Unsplash
Since the hornets were first discovered in France eleven years ago, nothing has been able to mitigate the threat.
Electric Harps
In 2015, a beekeeper in France wrote a blog post about a funny little tool: the electric harp.
![A person wearing a white shirt and white beekeeper hats works on three blue boxes with hundreds of bees flying around them](https://images.caredoctor.com/2024/07/97880ac4-beekeeper.jpg)
Source: Janet/Unsplash
Retiree and beekeeper Michel Costa found about the hardware years later and soon discovered how he could use it to watch hundreds of hornets die within just minutes. He said that “the demonstration of its effectiveness was staggering.”
What Is it?
The electric harp is a frame that holds metal wires spaced two centimeters apart that conducts positive and negative charges.
![Two large electric fences set up next to honeybee boxes](https://images.caredoctor.com/2024/07/87839ce2-electric-harp.jpg)
Source: James H. Cane/ Journal of Apicultural Research
When a hornet touches the wires, they complete the circuit and kill the bugs as they fly through. Beekeepers have been using the device on the flight path of the hornets to kill hundreds of them at a time.
Massively Reduce Predation
The predation pressure is significantly reduced by the harps. As well, the tool strikes very pointedly and poses minimal threat to the honeybees that keepers are trying to protect.
![A group of bees in a colony box](https://images.caredoctor.com/2024/07/663edc73-bee-colony.jpg)
Source: Bianca Ackermann/Unsplash
More than 91% of insects killed by the harps are the Asian hornet and only one perfecent are domesticated honeybees.
The Tool Can Be Made at Home
Although the electric harp can be purchased in store for $300, they can also be made at home for a fraction of the price.
![A beekeeper works on their colony box](https://images.caredoctor.com/2024/07/ebe3b855-beekeeper-box.jpg)
Source: Bianca Ackermann/Unsplash
Costa and entomologist Denis Thiéry developed a do-it-yourself model that can be made for about half the price.
The Role of Honeybees
Honeybees are essential for plants like fruits and vegetables to grow. Farmers rely on the bugs to pollinate fields and help plants flower to become fruit.
![A hoard of honeybees in a colony box](https://images.caredoctor.com/2024/07/434053df-honeybees-1.jpg)
Source: Brad Weaver/Unsplash
If honeybees were to die off, plants would essentially not be able to grow. Currently, more than 90% of the worlds bee population worldwide has died out, making it more difficult every year for new plant life to grow.
Why Are the Hornets Bad for the World?
The Asian hornets are especially harmful for the planet because of their sheer killing power of bees.
![A macro photo of a bumblebee on white flower](https://images.caredoctor.com/2024/05/0ebb2d5b-screenshot-2024-05-15-214250.jpg)
Source: Skitterphoto/Pexels
Honeybees and bumblebees are already surviving on a razor’s edge. Global warming, reduction in natural habitat, and heightened levels of deadly pesticides have all caused a massive decline in natural populations. Another threat would only hurt the bees more.
How the Asian Hornet Got to Europe
The first incidence of Asian hornet was discovered in France in 2004 but didn’t become pervasive until 2011.
![A large hornet sits on a small white flower](https://images.caredoctor.com/2024/07/4608485e-hornet.jpg)
Source: Albiraham Yulianto/Unsplash
The invasive species were inadvertently brought to Europe through an imported shipping container from east Asia.
Rapid Spread
One of the markers of an invasive species is its ability to thrive in a non-native environment while taking resources from native species or killing them off entirely.
![A close-up photo of a bee on a yellow flower](https://images.caredoctor.com/2024/05/06acfba1-screenshot-2024-05-15-214128.jpg)
Source: Neringa Normantaite/Unsplash
In other cases, invasive species are known to decimate the landscape of an environment or creating a heightened presence of competition for food, which causes death and distress for native bugs and animals.
How To Help Bees at Home
You can help support honeybees at home by planting native plants or a natural clover lawn. Even a small garden or patch of natural grass can be beneficial to the bugs.
![A stripped bee sits on a yellow flower next to a yellow background](https://images.caredoctor.com/2024/05/a4e97045-yellow-bee.jpg)
Source: Dmitry Grigoriev/Unsplash
Since pollinators are essential for our food supply, you will be directly helping farmers and at risk communities.