Lucie Chaumeton, AH coordinator for North London conducted a zoom meeting for BBKA members on 17th March 2026.
The AH challenge is too big for beekeepers alone. There is the issue of crop pollination, quality of agricultural products particularly fruit and the threat of people getting stung.
It is estimated that one hornet nest will consume some 11kg of mixed pollinators but mainly honeybees over the summer. In the UK the National Bee Unit has an eradication mandate and only they are allowed to destroy nests. We on the Island need to discover whether DEFA are ready themselves or will use qualified pest controllers. Beekeepers can aid in raising awareness and monitoring. Track and trace is a government responsibility and the last resort for beekeepers maybe hive defences. So far no hives have been reported lost as a result of hornets incursion in the UK
In 2025 160 nests were destroyed. This surged from single digits before 2023. Recent nests discovered inland would be due to hornets hitching a ride northwards. From French information it is estimated that the insect can spread up to 70 kilometres per year.
The public needs to report sightings and everyone should be encouraged to install the Asian Hornet Watch app on their phones. Every sighting must be accompanied by a photograph and reporters will get a confirmation email to confirm it has got through for inspection. It is not legal to trap a hornet and then release it but it should be preserved for inspection by experts probably the most humane way to do this is by freezing.
We need to resolve how we report on the Island There is a lot of material on the BBKA members hub and headquarters has a specific officer in Teresa Middlebrook officer@bbka.org.uk. Posters either plain or laminated are available free of charge from nnss@apha.gov.uk
Resin blocks encasing hornets are handy for demonstration purposes and cost around £5 each.
Every honey selling stall should have AH material displayed and the small cards are useful to give out.
Beekeepers are encouraged to use social media to highlight the challenge and could even put a hornet picture into their auto signatures.
There is an Asian hornet week planned for 7th September and beekeepers are encouraged to wear yellow socks.
Traps should have dry bait so by-catch is not drowned and there is really no point in trapping workers as there are thousands more in the nest. Trapping is useful in March to catch fertile queens coming out of hibernation and later sexual adults released by the nests in September.
To assess incomers, traps should be set up near ports, wholesale fruit and veg depots, wood importers, garden centres and they seem to like travelling with race horses. Trappit cost £75 for five litres but it is practical to make your own from something sweet, vinegary and alcoholic, the latter discourages honey bees from entering the trap.
More sophisticated and not needing surveillance are Vespa AI which will recognise the Asian hornet and is always on but is currently powered by a car battery. More practical is Buzzcopper Mark 2 which uses a solar panel and uses shape and colour recognition to record AH
Track and trace is not our responsibility but it was noted that the Robors radio device will reduce the time to find a nest by about 25% and out of the 160 destroyed last year, 50 were found by this method.
The full presentation can be viewed at the BBKA members hub, resources for members, zoom talks for members
Roger Putman
