France is facing an invasion of bee-eating Asian hornets which could end the honey-bee population and threaten bee-keepers' livelihoods.
Colonies of these Asian hornets, or Vespa velutina, are everywhere in southwestern France, and are likely to reach other European countries soon.
They multiply quite quickly, and they settle in a new area every year.
The hornet is not yet present in other European countries, but will probably spread across the continent.
Last week six people were hospitalized after being stung near a nest in southwest France, prompting local authorities to warn allergy sufferers to be on their guard.
It is feared that in three or fours years they'll be everywhere in France -- it's an invasion.
Three or four hornets can wipe out an entire beehive in 48 hours.
Scientists have already expressed alarm at the mysterious and rapid decline in the number of bees, which could seriously harm agriculture because of the reduction in pollination of numerous crops.
"More and more of them are coming and they're colonizing France," Quentin Rome, a researcher at the National History Museum in Paris, told Reuters.
The first hornets were observed in France in 2004, and the most recent study recorded 1,100 nests across the country. The hornet is now firmly established near Bordeaux and has advanced as far north as parts of Brittany in northwestern France.
Three or four hornets can wipe out an entire beehive in 48 hours, but bee-keeping associations do not yet know how serious a threat the hornets pose for their industry, which is already facing a mysterious decline in bee numbers worldwide.
"When bee-keepers find nests nearby, their hives are destined for destruction," General Secretary of the National union of Bee-keepers Yves Vedrenne said. "We don't have the means to get rid of them."
Scientists have already expressed alarm at the mysterious and rapid decline in the number of bees, which could seriously harm agriculture because of the reduction in pollination of numerous crops.
