Concerns have been expressed about the threat to native bee species from the Asian or yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina) after “unprecedented” early sightings of Asian hornets in Jersey and a dry, sunny start to the year.
Since they were first officially recorded in the UK in 2016, the number of Asian hornets seen each summer has varied, and just 24 sightings recorded in 2024 thanks to cold, wet weather. However, 2024 was also the first year that the National Bee Unit used DNA analysis to confirm that the species had overwintered in the UK for the first time, suggesting it is now established in Britain.
Now the Guardian has reported that 262 Asian hornets had already been trapped on jersey by 11 April, an increase of 1,090 per cent on the same period last year. “The first queens were more than two weeks early this year,” said John De Carteret, a founding member of the Jersey Asian Hornet Group, which has about 550 traps in place this year. “We’re obviously concerned. When we reach 266 queens, we will equal the total from 2024 – and that figure wasn’t reached until 25 June.”
Ian Campbell, of the British Beekeepers Association, told the newspaper, “There’s a strong risk of this year’s numbers being at least as high as in 2023 and the potential to be even higher. It would be a surprise if numbers were not above the 2024 level.”
So far this year there have only been two sightings in the mainland UK, but farmers, growers and the public are being urged to be vigilant and to take photographs of any suspected insects and nests and submit them to the National Bee Unit so they can be destroyed.
“The Asian hornet can arrive in a lot of different ways. It can come in on fresh produce or within someone’s car, across any Channel crossing,” said Ecology professor Helen Roy of UKCEH and Exeter University. “Everyone needs to be vigilant, everywhere. There isn’t a natural enemy that we’re aware of that could control the Asian hornet.”
