Scientists have come up with a high-tech method of tracking Asian hornets, which have been posing a threat to the future of the UK’s honeybee population. This early warning system, designed by boffins at Exeter University, draws hornets to a monitoring station. They land on a sponge cloth impregnated with food and are automatically photographed.
AI establishes if they are Asian hornets, rather than the more benign European hornet, and sends an alert to the operator’s phone or computer.
Asian hornets (Vespa velutina) have already invaded much of mainland Europe and may be establishing in the UK. They lurk outside honeybee hives and capture bees as they enter and exit - just one Asian hornet can eat 30-50 honeybees in a day.
These interlopers are smaller than native UK hornets and can be identified by their orange faces, yellow-tipped legs and darker abdomens. The new warning system could help protect UK bees as it allows trackers to trace the hornets back to a nest which can then be destroyed before the queen starts to reproduce.
It is hoped that the cost of the gadget will be less than 100 to make it more widely available. It is more environmentallyfriendly than using traps, which kill a lot of beneficial insects as well. However, environmentalist and broadcaster Chris Packham has said that we have more pressing matters to worry about than Asian hornets, adding that native hornets also eat bees - while the Government has given the go-ahead for farmers to use a bee-killing pesticide that is banned elsewhere in Europe. He added: “But is it just me, or has anyone else noticed there is a global biodiversity crisis and there are much more pressing issues to worry about than a little less honey? What about the vast cocktail of chemical pesticides sprayed over our landscape?”
Learning the sounds of the underground
Scientists are listening to the sounds made by subterranean critters and the results are fascinating! According to researchers at the University of Warwick, earthworms make a crunching sound as they move through their natural habitats, while voles sound like a squeaky dog toy! “The soil is such a mystery,” says Dr Jacqueline Stroud, from the University of Warwick’s Crop Centre. “This is like opening the door and seeing what is going on below ground. It’s a different way of exploring the world.”
Soil, known in the science world as ‘the poor man’s rainforest’
