Twenty million red-eyed bees are stationed in Yuelu Mountain to catch insects and love to drink beer without biting

On May 26, the "BeeKeeping Squad" came to Yuelu Mountain and placed red-eyed bee bee cards on the trunks of trees. Photo / Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Gu Pengbo

Red net Changsha, May 27 (Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Tan Xuyan) If you recently when you were in Yuelu Mountain, you saw that the trunk has a white card-shaped paper bag, and the words "red-eyed bees put bee cards" are written on the paper, don't think that this is the garbage littered by tourists, and don't be curious to pick it up to find out, because the box contains the eggs of the pest "natural enemy" red-eyed bee. Don't underestimate this paper bag, which is smaller than the size of a business card, which is the camp of thousands of "natural enemies" of pests, red-eyed bees, and if they rush into the nest, they can effortlessly "annihilate" hundreds of pests.

On May 26, 2015, the 2015 Yuelu District Biological Predator Red-Eyed Wasp Control Forestry Pest Control Project was launched in Yuelu Mountain. A "bee-releasing squad" of more than 20 people organized by the Yuelu District Agriculture, Forestry and Animal Husbandry Bureau set off from the foot of Yuelu Mountain, climbed up one step at a time, and placed a red-eyed bee card on the trunk of the tree at intervals.

"It is estimated that 3,000 mu of woodland in Yuelu Mountain will be placed with bee cards, and the whole district will release red-eyed bees in 15,000 mu of pine forests or mixed pine forests." Peng Haijun, deputy director of the Agriculture, Forestry and Animal Husbandry Bureau of Yuelu District, told Xiaoxiang Morning Post that this has been the fourth consecutive year that Yuelu District has implemented the "Red-eyed Bee Control Pine Forest Pest Project".

In less than half a day, the "beekeeping squad" in Yuelu Mountain has basically completed the task of releasing bees, and about 20,000 red-eyed bee release cards have been placed in the 3,000 acres of woodland. If the weather continues, each bee card will hatch thousands of red-eyed bees in a day or two, and there will be 20 million red-eyed bees in the entire Yuelu Mountains.

"There are three times a year on Yuelu Mountain where pests such as pine caterpillars are high, and mid-summer is a stage, if most of the pest eggs can be eliminated before the pests become adults, the subsequent pests will be easier to deal with." Li Ping, deputy manager of the Rongyuan Greening Service Company in Yuelu Mountain Scenic Area, said that the red-eyed bee has made a great contribution to the pest control of Yuelu Mountain.

Not only Yuelu Mountain, but also the Yuelu District Agriculture, Forestry and Animal Husbandry Bureau has also released red-eyed bees on the woodlands of Pingtang Street, Lianhua Town, Yuchangping, Wangyue Street and other areas, aiming to prevent pests such as pine caterpillars and maple incense moths from destroying tree growth.

How to fight pests

An adult red-eyed wasp is less than 1 mm long and has pear-shaped wings with single wing veins and spike-like marginal hairs. When pests lay eggs, they release a pheromone through which red-eyed wasps can quickly find the eggs of the pest. They crawl on the surface of the pest eggs and constantly tap on the shells to quickly and accurately find the freshest pest eggs, where they lay and reproduce. This process of "doves occupying magpies' nests" is the process of forestry pests being eradicated in the bud stage.

Will it hurt tourists?

"Don't worry, red-eyed bees don't bite people, red-eyed bees feed on eggs, and when the eggs are eaten, red-eyed bees will die if they lose their food." Peng Haijun said that pest eggs such as pine caterpillars and maple incense moths are its food, and the release of red-eyed bees is a good pest control method, not only has a fast effect and low cost, but also has the advantage of no pollution compared with previous pesticide control methods.

The area of red-eyed bees released in the province has reached nearly 200,000 mu

On May 26, Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter learned from the Provincial Forestry Department that according to incomplete statistics, the area of pine caterpillar eggs released by red-eyed bees in The province in May has approached 200,000 mu.

"Before the winter, there was a phenomenon of small areas of leaves being eaten, and since the beginning of spring, the temperature has been above 15 degrees Celsius, and pine caterpillars have begun to feed on trees, but due to the long-term rainy weather, it is impossible to carry out prevention and control, resulting in the spread of pine caterpillar disasters in the province." Xiaoxiang Morning Post reporter learned from the provincial forest disease and pest control and quarantine station that 1.2 million mu of forest land has occurred in Shaoyang, Huaihua, Yongzhou, Xiangxi and other places, of which moderate and severe occurrence areas have exceeded 600,000 mu.

According to the Provincial Forest Disease and Pest Control and Quarantine Station, pine caterpillars not only eat up the leaves and cause pine trees to die, but more seriously, pine caterpillars are poisonous and toxic to the human body. "Especially in the case of high temperatures in June and July, a large number of pine caterpillars will climb down from trees to hide from the shadows, and will climb into farmers' wells, farmlands and even houses, causing environmental pollution and even poisoning people", so it is urgent to prevent and control the harm of pine caterpillars.

The provincial forest disease and pest control and quarantine station said that the best control period for pine caterpillars is the overwintering generation, at this time not only the insect state is neat, the scope is not expanded, if the wintering season is not well grasped, we must do a good job in the current first generation of prevention and control, because once the second generation of harm occurs, it will cause a large number of trees to be swallowed up and died.

Reader feedback

Why do predators drink beer

"Why do predators drink beer?" On May 26, after xiaoxiang morning newspaper reported that "let the bees return to the mountain to kill the insects", a curious reader called and raised his doubts.

"Beer is an ingredient in artificial feed with maltose and other trace elements in it, because beer is fermented and is good for digestion." Yan Xuewu, technical director of the Provincial Natural Enemy Breeding Center, told Xiaoxiang Morning News that it is not that these pest "natural enemies" like to drink beer, but because beer is a better feed ingredient, and technicians usually choose cheaper beer when making feed, which can also play the same effect while saving costs.