Asian hornet: what happens in spring? Several answers are possible.
- Most of the gynes that have overwintered found a lasting colony directly.
- The gynes emerge from their winter shelter and feed on nectar.
- The first workers are approximately the size of the founding queens.
- The gynes can enter into competition to usurp embryonic nests.
- The first workers are larger than those of the following generations.
- The workers feed the queen with a royal jelly comparable to that of bees.
Show answer
Correct answers: 2 + 4.
The gynes emerge from their winter shelter and feed on nectar; they can also enter into competition to usurp embryonic nests.
Why?
In spring, the fertilised gynes that have survived the winter resume their activity. They feed, in particular on nectar, then some build a small embryonic nest and begin to lay.
This phase is fragile: not all gynes become lasting founders. Competition and usurpations of nests can occur as long as the first workers are not yet present to defend the young colony.
What to understand
The founder must at first manage everything alone: build the first cells, lay, search for food and feed the larvae. The first workers resulting from this start-up are generally smaller than the workers produced later, when the colony already has a larger workforce.
Unlike honey bees, hornets do not feed their queen with royal jelly. One must therefore not transpose the functioning of a bee colony directly to that of a hornet colony.
Key points
Spring is a key phase in the cycle of the Asian hornet. The surviving gynes seek to feed and to found a colony, but only a portion of them manages to establish a viable nest up to the production of the first workers.