The Vespa Orientalis hornet has become just the latest of threats to bees, whose declining numbers are jeopardising agriculture worldwide says Laura Bortolotti.
Bortolotti is the lead researcher of the CREA - Council of Research in Agriculture and Analysis of Agricultural Economics - think tank.
The hornet has recently destroyed some 40,000 beehives in Lazio, Campania and Molise, officials said.
“Despite being a native species in Italy, the Vespa Orientalis is behaving as if it were an alien species,” Bortolotti told ANSA.
“Its behaviour towards bees has changed in a few years, becoming increasingly aggressive.
“This is also due to climate change which, in some way, has altered the environmental balance.”
Vespa Orientalis is also an increasing threat to public health in urban areas, they said.
ANSA
