At this stage, she said KVH was monitoring the investigation and supporting Biosecurity New Zealand\u2019s activities \u2013 especially around monitoring for suspected nests. <\/p>\n
Photo by Jamie Troughton\/Dscribe Media Services Kiwifruit Vine Health chief executive Leanne Stewart. Photo \/ Jamie Troughton, Dscribe Media Services<\/p>\n
Stewart said with warmer weather on the horizon, the risk of new nests forming increases, making early detection critical to protect crops and ecosystems.<\/p>\n
For pollination, beekeepers usually drop off hives at kiwifruit orchards in late October.<\/p>\n
In a previous interview, Matamata beekeeper Matt Crawford \u2013 who has a number of kiwifruit clients in the Bay of Plenty \u2013 told Coast & Country News hives were usually left at the orchards for a couple of weeks before collection.<\/p>\n
There were 8-10 hives per canopy hectare, with his honeybees serving both the Gold and Green varieties of kiwifruit. <\/p>\n
\u201cKiwifruit is particularly reliant on insect pollinators as its male and female flowers are located on separate plants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Risk to pollination <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a similar story for avocado growers. New Zealand Avocado chief executive Brad Siebert said growers and the public in the Auckland region were being alerted to the hornet issue. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis presents a risk to pollination services in the avocado industry. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe encourage all growers to remain vigilant; look out for hornets or nests and report any sightings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Siebert said avocados were \u201cpollination-reliant\u201d through spring.<\/p>\n
While natural pollination does occur \u2013 through wind and other insects \u2013 he said avocado growers routinely brought in hives because the introduction of honeybees to orchards greatly increases the potential for a better crop.<\/p>\n
Siebert said NZ Avocado had been engaged with other sectors and Biosecurity NZ to support the development of a \u201cwell-managed response\u201d to the hornet issue.<\/p>\n
More than half of New Zealand\u2019s commercial avocado growers were in the Bay of Plenty, with the balance in Northland and a small percentage in the Auckland region.<\/p>\n
Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis said yellow-legged hornets build large nests up to 80cm tall, often high in trees or under eaves. <\/p>\n
However, early embryo nests created by queen hornets at the beginning of the spring season can be as small as a tennis ball and may appear within a couple of days.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not disturb any suspected nest,\u201d Inglis said.\u201d Take a photo and report it to Biosecurity New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dark legs, bright yellow tips <\/p>\n
The yellow-legged hornet has distinctive dark legs with bright yellow tips. <\/p>\n
In contrast, common wasp species in New Zealand, such as the German wasp, typically have uniformly yellow or yellow-striped legs.<\/p>\n
The yellow-legged hornet is also much larger than honeybees and common wasp species seen in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
By mid-November, when Coast & Country News went to print, RNZ reported that seven queen yellow-legged hornets had been found in Auckland so far.<\/p>\n
Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
While Inglis and his team believed it is unlikely yellow-legged hornets are present beyond Auckland, he said, \u201cBiosecurity NZ is closely monitoring the situation and is encouraging people to remain vigilant and report any suspected hornet or nest sightings.\u201d<\/p>\n
To support surveillance, Biosecurity NZ had laid traps in a measured way in areas where females have been found. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have more than 120 traps in the field,\u201d Inglis said. <\/p>\n
Indirect impacts <\/p>\n
Although the hornets are unlikely to directly target kiwifruit or avocado crops, he said there may be indirect impacts through reduced numbers of pollinating insects. <\/p>\n
\u201cYellow-legged hornets pose a biosecurity risk because of their potential impact on honeybee and wild bee populations. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are currently undertaking a risk assessment to better understand the potential impacts of the hornet, which will provide more information,\u201d says Inglis. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are also assembling a panel of experts to help us answer questions around the best management options for this hornet, including improving the traps and lures for New Zealand conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Best tool is people<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best surveillance tool we have right now is for people to report any sightings of suspected hornets or hornet nests online or through our pest and disease hotline.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reports can be made through report.mpi.govt.nz or by calling Biosecurity NZ\u2019s exotic pest and disease hotline on 0800 809 966.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are unsure how the hornets arrived in New Zealand,\u201d Inglis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the species is a known hitchhiker pest. It originates from Southeast Asia but is also present in Europe and has been detected in the United States. <\/p>\n
\u201cMany countries throughout Europe and Asia have yellow-legged hornet and manage it. <\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, we don\u2019t want it here and that is why we\u2019re tracking it down.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At this stage, she said KVH was monitoring the investigation and supporting Biosecurity New Zealand\u2019s activities \u2013 especially…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2753,2082,23361,71993,809,111,43,139,69,5493,28652,61,11226],"class_list":{"0":"post-173091","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-eyes","9":"tag-for","10":"tag-growers","11":"tag-hornet","12":"tag-keep","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-open","18":"tag-sightings","19":"tag-to","20":"tag-urged"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}