If the situation gets hopeless France should consider importing Japanese honey bees to make up for lost production and counter the threat. Japanese honey bees handle wasps and other intruders with relative ease because they literally swarm intruders with a massive banzai charge and hold on tight until they're dead. Seriously now, the banzai pile-on raises the body temperature of the hornets to the point where they become incapacitated and die (repeated bee stings don't help either). In contrast, European honeybees are completely unable to coordinate their attacks and what's worse, they only attack one at a time! Easy kill for a hornet.

The last vestige of chivalry in France or a genetic trait of the tragically fatal persuasion... you make the call!