Race against time as queens emerge in the South East

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Race against time as queens emerge in the South East

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Last year the National Bee Unit found and destroyed 72 ****** hornet nests

Bee inspectors in the South East are battling to ******** ****** hornet nests before new queens hatch later this month.

The Animal Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) bee team has already discovered 10 nests in Kent and Sussex, an area of the *** mainland which has witnessed most sightings of the invasive species.

One nest could contain thousands of the predators, which are capable of ******** 11kgs (24lbs) of insects in a season, including honeybees and other pollinators

The National Bee Unit found and destroyed 72 nests in 2023, the majority in south-east England.

During autumn, the hornets shift from foraging and nest expansion to reproduction.

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found that nests may produce up to 350 future queens and three times as many male hornets.

The newly fertilised queens will leave the nest and find somewhere suitable to surive winter, before starting new colonies in the spring.

In Alkham, Kent, inspectors have tracked a nest 30ms (98ft) up a tree.

Tracy Wilson, from the APHA, said: “At this stage the queen is almost certainly one queen, but as we move into the autumn more will be ***** with the intention that those ones will then disperse.

“We need to get to those nests before the additional queens can disperse.”

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Tracey Wilson said they need to stop additional queens from dispersing

The number of nests so far discovered in the *** is down on 2023, but many beekeepers are sceptical eradication can ever happen.

Tony Warren, a beekeeper in Gravesend, Kent, was so concerned he set up his own alert group.

He said: “The horse has bolted. It’s out of the field. It’s into the next field and in the next village.

“Suddenly you’ll get a ***** year. You’ll get all the right conditions and they’re off again.”

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In Jersey captured hornets are fitted with tinsel so they will lead volunteers to their nests

Beekeepers in the South East are calling on the government to adopt a model developed on the Channel Island of Jersey where local volunteers set up bait stations.

They tag captured insects with tinsel so they are more visible and can be tracked back to their nests or timed to see how long it takes them to return.

John de Carteret, one of the Jersey organisers, said: “A ***** hornet is just a ***** hornet – it will prove it’s a hornet. A live hornet will betray where the nest is.”

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This ****** hornet nest was discovered in Jersey

In the *** releasing an invasive alien species back into the wild is ******** without a special licence, with only those working for APHA licenced to do so.

Anyone spotting an ****** Hornet is asked to take a photo and report it on the ****** Hornet Watch app.

****** hornets are native to Southeast Asia but can be transported around the world in cargo. They are widespread in mainland Europe and can be blown across the Channel.

The invasive hornets are wreaking havoc in mainland Europe and threaten to get a foothold in the ***, with nests found in East Sussex, Kent, Devon and Dorset.

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