Normally the warmer weather is a sign of hope that soon the bees will be doing what we want the bees to do. This year is different.
As soon as the temperature gets above about 13C for several days hibernating Yellow Legged Hornets (previously known as the Asian Hornet) will awake.
Last autumn we had nests of Yellow Legged Hornets destroyed in Dorset. Almost certainly fertile queens had already left the nest and found a place to hibernate. Now they will be coming out of hibernation ready to create a new nest.
It is important that we are alert to this problem. We must be prepared to give time to eradicating this invasion before it can become established. I know that as the bees become active we are all very busy checking our hives but if we don't get on top of the Yellow Legged Hornet invasion we will have much more spare time as we may only have empty hives to check! You have been warned.
On a lighter note have a look at the BBC 1 Asia series1:4 Tangled Worlds. The programme is well worth watching but of particular interest is the section from 40 minutes to 46 minutes which shows the Yellow Legged Hornet at work. It is not quite the same as ours since it has more yellow bands but its modus operandi is the same. All I can say is bring on the Honey Buzzards. If you want to know why then you will have to watch the programme.