Introduction
The Asian Hornet has been established for at least 20 years in France, having probably come from China in a pottery shipment which arrived at the port of Bordeaux in 2004. The hornets then spread north at a rate of 100km per year, reaching Jersey in 2016; over 300 nests were destroyed there in 2023. Some 70 nests were found and destroyed in the UK in 2023 (more than all previous years added together), mainly in Kent and along the South coast. We have not had any sightings in Swindon or Wiltshire yet, and hope it remains so.
The action to locate and destroy Asian hornets’ nests is coordinated by Defra and the British Beekeepers Association who are using volunteers. Mick Carter, SALGA member, Pickards Field allotment holder and beekeeper, is the Asian Hornet Action Team leader coordinator for Swindon and the surrounding area.
We are asking every person to be vigilant in the fight against this predator and to report all suspect sightings using the Asian Hornet Watch app which is free to download to your smart phone.
An Asian Hornet is slightly smaller than the native European Hornet. A European Hornet has yellow abdominal segments and brown legs, but an Asian Hornet has a brown body with only one yellow segment and yellow tipped legs (as if it’s wearing yellow socks, which is the big giveaway).
Life cycle and impact
As the weather warms in February and March, the Asian Hornet hibernated queens that mated last year will emerge and start to build a small nest; these look very similar to wasps’ nests and are typically quite low to the ground. The nest will hold some 50 -100 workers fed by the queen as she continues building. This is the best time to trap Asian Hornet queens, as they will also be foraging – typically on sweet things including honey.
When the hornets reach the adult stage in July, a new nest is started. Such nests are usually in treetops, but some have been found in hedges. By August/September, these nests become much larger than the primary nest, and will hold up to 6,000 worker hornets as well as between 180 -500 new queens. Bee colonies are now at their most vulnerable, as each worker hornet can take 25 -30 bees a day back to its nest. They kill the bees by pulling their heads off, and then use their bodies for protein to feed the emerging young. Thus one nest of 6,000 hornets would kill some 180,000 bees per day in late summer. As a normal hive will typically hold 60,000 bees at its peak, this equates to 3 complete hives/day, or 21/week, destroyed by one nest of hornets. Typical apiaries comprise perhaps 3-6 hives.
Experience in France has shown that when this food source is exhausted, the Asian Hornet will start on other insects. This massively affects the food chain both for species such as birds that feed on insects, and others including humans that eat fruit and vegetables – all of which are produced through flower pollination. The new queens will emerge from the nests in September, quickly mate and then find a place to wait out the cold of winter in tree trunks, cracks in walls and dry sheltered places, before starting the cycle over again in the following Spring.
Conclusion
The Asian Hornet is a major threat not just to honeybees, but also to our other native pollinators and insects, and all species that rely upon them for food. We are asking every person to be vigilant in the fight against this predator, and to report all suspect sightings using the Asian Hornet Watch app which is free to download to your smart phone. If you want any more information, please email michael_carter32@yahoo.co.uk
