Seasonal Variations in Hornet s Spp. and Efficiency of Different Traps as a Tool for Control

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American Journal of Agricultural Science 2015; 2(6): 223-230 Published online January 6, 2016 (http://www.aascit.

and Efficiency of Different Traps as a Tool for Control Noor Islam *, Farida Iftikhar, Rashid Mahmood Honeybee Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan Email

1 American Journal of Agricultural Science 2015; 2(6): Published online January 6, 2016 ( ISSN: (Print); ISSN: (Online) Seasonal Variations in Hornet s Spp. and Efficiency of Different Traps as a Tool for Control Noor Islam *, Farida Iftikhar, Rashid Mahmood Honeybee Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan address khattakni@gmail.com (N. Islam), farida.narc@gmail.com (F. Iftikhar), Rashid_ento1@yahoo.com (R. Mahmood) Keywords Vespa velutina, V. orientalis, V. tropica, Seasonal Variations, Baits, Apis mellifera Pakistan Received: December 5, 2015 Revised: December 17, 2015 Accepted: December 19, 2015 Citation Noor Islam, Farida Iftikhar, Rashid Mahmood. Seasonal Variations in Hornet s Spp. and Efficiency of Different Traps as a Tool for Control. American Journal of Agricultural Science. Vol. 2, No. 6, 2015, pp Abstract The seasonal abundance and efficiency of traps baits (honey and grapes) and in combination with mechanical control of Vespa orientalis, V. velutina and V. tropica was investigated in honeybee, Apis mellifera apiaries at Honeybee Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad and District Karak (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province), Pakistan during June-November The results showed that low population of Vespa velutina and V. orientalis was observed in June while the population of V. tropica started to appear in the first week of July. It has been observed that the population of hornets (V. velutina, V. orientalis and V. tropica) increased gradually from the second week of August up to the fourth week of October. The highest number of hornets was observed in October followed by September and August. The population of different hornet s species tends to decreased at the fourth week of November The results showed that the wooden plastic bottle trap in combination with the honey as a bait and destruction of hornet s nests was an effective solution for controlling hornet s population in Apis mellifera apiaries. It can be concluded that the wooden plastic bottle trap with honey as a bait not only be used for reducing the hornets population in the honeybee apiaries but also can be incorporated in an Integrated Management Control Programme. 1. Introduction Hornets belonging to family Vespidae are serious pest of honeybee species. They attack foraging workers and guard bees at hive entrances and result in weakening strong colonies and minimizing their productivity (Matheson et al., 1989). In some circumstances, the hornets enter the hive and carry off both larvae and pupae. The wasps bite and discard the head and the abdomen of the adult bee and flies back to their nest with the thorax to feed the wasp larvae (Morse and Nowogrodzki, 1990). Hornets hampered the health and normal working of bee colonies and ultimately influenced the productivity of bee yard (Sihag, 1992; Khater et al., 2001; Abd Al-Fattah and Ibrahim, 2009). In Pakistan the hornet species are V. orientalis, L, V. basalis Smith, V. tropica Beq., V. velutina Vecht., and Vespula germanica (F.). They prey upon honeybees (Apis spp.). Of these five hornet species V. velutina and V. basalis were important and cause heavy losses by feeding on adults, brood and honey reserves of bees during the crucial floral dearth period extending from July to October (Shah and Shah, 1991). The European bee, A. mellifera was comparatively more susceptible to hornet attack than the oriental bee, A.

2 American Journal of Agricultural Science 2015; 2(6): cerana F. (Muzaffar and Ahmad, 1986). All species of hornets attained high population on the onset of monsoon rainy season in their respective habitats and high peaks in population were observed during September to October. The predation by V. orientalis and V. velutina continued till first fortnight of November; however a few adults of V. orientalis, V. velutina and V. basalis were recorded during first week of December at the hive entrances. No adults of V. tropica and V. vulgaris were seen during December in their nesting sites. V. basalis and V. velutina were found active in their nesting sites after December. No adults of any species were found active after the month of January in Pakistan (Waghchoure Camphor, 2013). The population of hornet spp. fluctuates according to prevailing weather conditions and between annual colonies (Sharkawy, 1964 and Ibrahim & Mazeed, 1967). So, the queen hornet emerges from its winter period of dormancy in spring and visits apiaries in search of food for her and larvae after constructing its small cup-shaped nest. After the first generation of brood has been reared, the nest size and colony strength increases throughout the summer and reaching a peak in autumn. During the period from August to November the demand of hornet food is greater and bee colonies are at greater risk (Muzaffar & Ahmed, 1986; Ahmed, 1999; Yousief-Khalil et al., 2000; Gomaa & Abd El-Wahab, 2006; Abd Al-Fattah and Ibrahim, 2009 and Abd Al-Fattah, et al., 2013). Therefore, various procedures have been suggested to protect honeybee colonies from hornets in the world. These include the killing of individual hornet workers with a swattar (Matsuura and Sakagami, 1973), destroying nests by burning, fumigation with calcium cyanide after plugging the entrance hole and using toxic baits have been advocated (Sihag, 1992). Killing the hornet queens during spring (Wafa, et al., 1969 and Mishear, et al., 1989) has also been tried. Different types of traps have been devised and many kinds of materials have been evaluated as lures which attained attractiveness with varying degrees (Wafa, et al., 1968; Sharma, et al., 1979; Ahmed, 1999; Yousief, et al., 2000). Screens reducers for hive entrance, fixing a part of queen excluder at the hive entrance and elimination of the alighting board have been reported to be useful in reducing hornet attack (Rye, 1986; Mayer, et al., 1988 and Ibrahim, 2009). In conclusion of the above attempts for protecting or reducing the serious problems of honeybee colonies due to hornet attack, the present work was undertaken to investigate the effect of the climatic changes and meteorological factors on the activity and population of different hornet species attacking honeybee colonies in the rainfed and sub humid environmental conditions at Karak and Islamabad-Pakistan and to manage hornet s population with minimum side effects on the environment and on the nontarget organism especially on honeybees. 2. Materials and Methods This experiment was conducted in Apis mellifera apiaries located at two different locations at District Karak and Honeybee Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad during the active season of the hornets species from June to November The ecology of District Karak is rainfed while it is moist sub-humid in Islamabad. The hornet s population was studied by capturing hornets foraging at apiary with stick measuring 3.5 inches length, 1 inch diameter fitted with piece of rubber flapper 4 5 inches. Two observers were kept on apiary site for killing, counting and separation of species according to Performa. Data was recorded during peak foraging hours of bees at hrs and hrs. Meteorological data was obtained from the Climate Change, Alternate Energy and Water Resources Institute, NARC, Islamabad. For reducing hornet spp. on honeybee apiary two types of traps (wooden trap with plastic bottle and Iron wire Gauze Trap) and two types of baits (grapes and honey) were used. The traps were placed on the top cover of the Langstroth modern hive. Eighteen traps, each having two types of baits were randomly distributed in between the experimental apiary. These baits were used from the first week of August through the last week of November during Due to the peak activity of the hornets, the baits were put during morning hours and replaced daily. Whenever the bottle was full with hornets they were destroyed by using the boiled water. For mechanical control of hornets, surveys were conducted for searching hornet nets in the 2 km radius of the apiary in both the District Karak as well as in Islamabad. All the nesting sites found were burned for reducing the hornet population. The experiment was replicated three times with two factor factorial design. For data analysis software Statistix 8.1 was used Wooden with Plastic Bottle Trap This type of trap consisted of a wooden frame of cm size. There were 4 holes of 2 cm diameter, in equal distance each from the other. The bait was placed in the wooden frame in the bottom. Above the wooden frame, there was a large conical and a small conical wire net. On the small conical wire net there was a plastic bottle containing several small holes for bees to escape. The wooden Plastic bottle Trap were placed randomly on the top cover of the beehive in the apiaries. In this trap the insects were attracted by the odor of the bait and entered the plastic bottle through the wire conical net from the four holes. In their attempt to escape, they fly to the upper closed part of the plastic bottle and get trapped Iron Wire Gauze Net Trap This type of trap consisted of a wire gauze net cm size. There were three holes of 2 cm diameter in equal distance from each other. The bait was hung in the top of the trap with iron hook. The trap was placed on the top of a bee hive. The insects were attracted by the odor of the bait. In their attempt to escape, they fly to the upper closed part of

3 225 Noor Islam et al.: Seasonal Variations in Hornet s Spp. and Efficiency of Different Traps as a Tool for Control the trap and get trapped. Fig. 1. The pattern of experimental trap a) Wooden with plastic bottle trap b) Iron wire gauze net trap. 3. Results and Discussions 3.1. Seasonal Abundance of the Vespa velutina, V. orientalis and V. tropica The results showed that Vespa velutina, V. orientalis were found attacking honeybees Apis mellifera during June to November 2015 whereas V. tropica was found attacking bees from July-November 2015 at Islamabad, Pakistan. Regarding the seasonal abundance of the three hornet species data in table 1 showed that the V. velutina started to appear in small numbers (37 hornets/week) during the first week of June 2015 and gradually increased at the end of the June. Gradual increase in numbers was recorded from the second week of August (162 hornets/week). Weekly total numbers of V. velutina reached to the highest number during the autumn season particularly in the second week of October (833 hornets/week). A sharp decline took place during the second week of November and the hornets decreased gradually in numbers till the fourth week of November. The highest monthly total numbers of the hornets recorded in October (683 hornets/week) with an average temperature (29.11 C) and relative humidity (68.82%) followed by (532 hornets/week) in September with an average temperature (33.04 C) and relative humidity (68.09%) and (158 hornets/week) in August with an average temperature (32.86 C) and relative humidity (78.93%) respectively. Data in table 1 showed that the highest number of captured oriental hornets was observed during October and September (193 and 139) with an average temperature and relative humidity (29.11 C, 68.82% and C, 68.09%) respectively. Weekly total number of V. orientals reached to the highest values during the second week of October (220 hornets/week). A decline took place during the first week of November and the hornet population decreased gradually in numbers till the fourth week of November. Our results showed that the V. tropica population started to appear from the first week of July (3 hornets/week) and gradually increased in numbers and declined in November. Gomaa and AbdEl-Wahab (2006) has reported that there is marked increase in the wasps from the second week of August (51 wasps/ trap) to the fourth week of September (3301 wasps/trap). The highest population (24 hornets/week) was observed during the second week of October. The highest monthly total numbers of V. tropica was recorded in October ((21.2 hornets/week) with an average temperature and relative humidity (29.11 C, 68.82%) followed by (16 hornets/week) with an average temperatures and relative humidity (33.04 C, 68.09%). Taha (2014) has reported that the highest number of captured oriental hornet was observed during October 2011 and November 2011 with average temperature and relative humidity (24.4 C, 69.5% and 17.3 C, 79.0%), respectively. The obtained results confirmed the findings of Shoreit, 1998 where he stated that V. velutina, V. orientalis and V. tropica workers reached their peak in October and Waghchoure-Camphor, 2013 where she observed that V. velutina seem to be the most serious predator of Apis mellifera at Islamabad which causes damage to honeybee colonies if not controlled. In our studies the highest peak of hornet population was observed in October with average temperature and humidity (29.11 C, 68.82%). These results agreed the observations of Shoreit 1998.

4 American Journal of Agricultural Science 2015; 2(6): Table 1. Population fluctuation of Vespa velutni, V. orientalus, and V. tropica weekly mean temperature and weekly mean RH% at National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad during the period from Junel to November Month Week V. velutni V. orientalis V. tropica Mean Temp Mean RH% June July August September October November First week Second week Third week Fourth week Mean First week Second week Third week Fourth week Mean First week Second week Third week Fourth week Mean First week Second week Third week Fourth week Mean First week Second week Third week Fourth week Mean First week Second week Third week Fourth week Mean Fig. 2. Seasonal fluctuation of the Vespa velutina at Islamabad.

5 227 Noor Islam et al.: Seasonal Variations in Hornet s Spp. and Efficiency of Different Traps as a Tool for Control Fig. 3. Seasonal fluctuation of the V. orientalis at Islamabad. Fig. 4. Seasonal fluctuation of the V. tropica at Islamabad. Fig. 5. Seasonal fluctuation in weekly temperature and RH % at Islamabad.

6 American Journal of Agricultural Science 2015; 2(6): Correlation Coefficient Between Weekly Number of Hornets with Temperature and Relative Humidity Table 2 showed that analysis of data in relation to meteorological factors revealed a negative effect of temperature with the average numbers of Vespa velutina, V. orientalis and V. tropica, whereas the mean relative humidity have positive effect on the numbers of three hornet species attacking honeybee colonies at Islamabad. Khater et al., (2001) observed that there is positive correlation with the monthly oriental wasp caught and the daily mean temperature whereas negative correlation with RH %. Ibrahim and Mazeed et al., (1967) have concluded that degree of temperature affects the oriental wasp activities where warm nights lead to the mortality of all the trapped wasps. Table 2. Simple correlation coefficient between changes of Vespa velutina, V. orientalis and V. tropica population and mean temperature and relative humidity during June November Hornet Species Mean Temperature Mean RH % Vespa velutina V. orientalis V. tropica V. velutina (Slope) V. orientalis (Slope) V. tropica (Slope) Efficiency of Traps and Baits on Trapping of Vespa velutina, V. orientalis and V. tropica Wooden traps with plastic bottle gave best capturing/trapping of oriental wasps, V. orientalis with honey used as bait which was significantly different in the efficiency from each other Table 3. Iron Wire Gauze Trap was found significantly less effective than the Wooden Traps with Plastic bottle. Statistical analysis of the data on captured oriental wasps, V. orientalis at Karak showed significant differences (p 0.01) among trap types and bait kind. It is noticeable that interactions (Trap type bait) were statistically significant indicating that, overall the order of the effectiveness of the traps was not the same for baits and that the honey was more attractive in comparison to grapes for the oriental wasps and for all the two trap types tested Table 3, Fig. 6. The results of this study demonstrate that the wooden trap with plastic bottle was the best trap type and that honey was the best bait for the V. velutina pruthi, V. orientalis and V. tropica. The efficacy of the Iron Wire Gauze Net Trap was inferior as compared to the wooden trap with plastic bottle. Our results confirm the findings of two scientists Bikos (1994) in Greece and by Shoreit (1998) in Egypt who used a similar type of trap with different kind of bait. The first author used bait frames without honey and the second had used bait that contained sugar. In both cases the authors reported that the efficacy was quite good without comparing them to other types of traps. (Bacandritsos et al 2006). Table 3. Number of V. orientalis adults at Karak district during August October Traps Baits Mean Honey Grapes Wooden Traps with Plastic Bottle 3768 a 2080 b 2924 a Wire Gauze Trap 2064 b 1718 c 1891b Mean in the same column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at p = 0.01 Fig. 6. Number of trapped adults of V. orientalis at Karak.

7 229 Noor Islam et al.: Seasonal Variations in Hornet s Spp. and Efficiency of Different Traps as a Tool for Control Fig. 7. Number of trapped adults of the V. velutina, V. orientalis and V. tropica at Islamabad. The use of the wooden trap with plastic bottle in combination with the proper bait may be an efficient solution for controlling the wasps that invade bee hives during summer in Pakistan, especially if honey is used as bait as reported earlier by Taha, (2014) and Bacandritsos et al (2006). Two types of traps that have been studied are not based on the action of some insecticide that might lead to the contamination of the environment, to the total destruction of wasp nests and/or to the death of other living organisms. The baits used attract only wasps and not honeybees. Special attention was paid to the time, the fresh bait was placed every morning because the performance of the traps were fairly high in the morning when wasps were hungrier and the low wind speed facilitate them to fly, seek and pounce to fresh bait. Also the baits were changed regularly (every 1-2 days) because drying and decomposition repulses the insects. Table 4. The efficiency of traps on the captured V. velutina, V. orientalis, and V. tropica adults at HBRI, NARC, Islamabad during the period from August November, Vespa velutina Vespa orientalis Vespa tropica Traps Honey Grapes Mean Honey Grapes Mean Honey Grapes Mean Wooden with Plastic Bottle Trap 1500 a 1243 b 1372 a 940 a 623 b 782 a 136 a 121 b 129 a Wire Gauze Trap 1300 b 1020 c 1160 b 600 bc 536 c 568 b 116 b 102 b 109 b Mean 1400 a 1132 b a 579 b a 112 b Conclusion It can be concluded that the wooden plastic bottle trap with honey as a bait not only be used for reducing the hornet population in bee apiaries but also can be incorporated in an Integrated Management Control Programme. References [1] Abd Al-Fattah, M.A. and Y.Y. Ibrahim The serious effects of the dangerous insect predator (Vespa orientalis Fab.) on honeybee colonies in Giza governorate 4th conference on Recent Technologies in Agriculture, [2] AbdAl-Fattah, M.A.; Abdel-Rahman, M.F. and W.M. Marzouk The effect of honeybee colony strength against the oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis Fab.). Bull. Ent. Soc. Egypt, (unpublished). [3] Ahmed, N.S Studies on oriental hornet Vespa orientalis Fab. (Vespidae, Hymenoptera) as a predator of honeybee, Apis mellifera L. (Apidae, Hymenoptera) in Upper Egypt, Ph. D. Thesis, Fac. of Agric. Minia Univ., 179 PP. [4] Bacandritsos N, Losifp P., Costas S. and Erifylli R Three non-toxic insect traps useful in trapping wasps enemies of honeybees. Bulletin of Insectology 59 (2): [5] Bikos, A Experience and Inventions. Apicultural review, 2: [6] Gomma, A.M. and T.E. Abd El-Wahab Seasonal abundance and the efficiency of yeast liquid culture (Candida tropicalis) as pait for capturing the oriental wasps (Vespa orientalies Fab.) under Egyptian Environment. J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(11): [7] Ibrahim, Y.Y Evaluation of defense behavior of honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies against the attacking of oriental hornet (Vespa orientalies Fab.). Ph. D. Thesis, Fac. Agric. Cairo Univ., 271 pp. [8] Ibrahim, M. M. and M. M. Mazeed Studies on the oriental hornet, Vespa orientalis, F. Agric. Res. Rev., 45 (2): [9] Khater, A.M.; Ebada, I.M.A. and S.I. Yousief-Khalil The seasonal activity of oriental wasps, (Vespa orientalis Fab.) population attacking honey bee colonies. Arab Univ. J. Agric. Sci, Ain Shams Univ., Cairo, 9:

8 American Journal of Agricultural Science 2015; 2(6): [10] Matheson, A., K. Clapperton, H. Moller and P. Alspach The impact of wasps on New Zealand beekeeping - the 1986/ 1987 wasp's survey. New Zealand Beekeeper No. 203: (Apic. Abst. 1286/90). [11] Matsuura, M. and S.F. Sakagami A bionomic sketche of the giant hornet Vespa manaarinia a serious pest for Japanese. Apiculture. J. Fac. Sci. Hokkaido Univ.VI (Zoology), 19 (1): [12] Mayer, D.F.; Akre, R.D.; Antonelli, A.L. and D. M. Burgett Protecting honey bees from yellow jackets. American Bee Journal, 127: 693. [13] Mishear, R.C.; Jitender, K. and J. K. Gupta A new approach to the control of predatory wasps (Vespa spp.) of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) J. of Apic. Res. 28 (3): [14] Morse, A. R. and R. Nowogrodzki Honeybee pests, Predators and Diseases, (2 nd ed) Comstock Publ. Associates, London. 468 pp. [15] Muzaffar, N. and R. Ahmad Studies on hornets attacking honeybees in Pakistan. Pakistan. J. of Agric. Res. 7 (1): [16] Rye, B Wasps control for beekeepers. Australian Bee Journal 67 (5): [17] Shah, F. A. and T. A. Shah Vespa velutina, a serious predator of honeybees in Kashmir. Bee World. 72 (4): [18] Sharkawy, S. G The morphological, biological, ecological and control studies of V. orientalies Fab. (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). M. Sc. Thesis, Cairo Univ. 208 pp. [19] Sharma, P. L.; Dogra, G.S. and R.C. Mishra Evaluation of methods of control of predatory wasps, Vespa sp. in apiaries. Indian bee j., 41: [20] Shoreit, M. N Field observations on the seasonal abundance and control of the oriental hornet, Vespa orientalis L. attacking honeybee colonies in Egypt. J. of App. Sci. 13 (4): [21] Sihag, R. C The yellow banded brown wasp Vespa orientalis Fab. a predator and colony robber of honeybee (Apis mellifera L. ) in Haryana (India). Korean J. Apic. Res., 7 (1): [22] Taha, A. A Effect of some climatic factors on the seasonal activity of oriental wasp, Vespa orientalis L. attacking honeybee colonies in Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt. Egypt J. of Agric. Res., 92 (1): [23] Yousief-Khalil, S.I.; Ebadah, I.M.A. and A.M. Khater Preliminary investigation on the efficiency of developed sticky trap in controlling Vespa orientalis Fab. attacking honeybee colonies. Egypt. J. Appl. Sci., 15: [24] Wafa, A. K.; El. Brolossy, F.M. and S.G. Sharkawi Control work of Vespa orientalis, Fab. Bull. Ent. Soc. Egypt, 3: 9 6. [25] Wafa, A. K.; El. Brolossy, F.M. and S.G. Sharkawi Control work of Vespa orientalis, Fab. Bull. Ent. Soc. Egypt, 3: 9-6. [26] Waghchoure-Camphor, E. S Studies on population trends of Vespa spp. predacious on honeybee colonies in Pakistan. Apimondia, XXXXIII International Apicultural Congress October 2013 Kyiv, Ukraine. 261 pp.

Rearing Honeybee Queens in, Apis Mellifera L. Colonies During the Activity Season of Oriental Wasps Vespa Orientalis L

International Journal of Agricultural Technology 2016 Vol. 12(4):667-674 Available online http://www.ijat-aatsea.com ISSN 2630-0192 (Online) Rearing Honeybee Queens in, Apis Mellifera L. Colonies During