Appeal to look out for voracious predators Asian Hornets threatening honeybees

ITV Granada Reports correspondent Andy Bonner speaks to two experts about the threat. Picture credit: Simon Cordingley, The Bee Centre

People are being urged to look out for insects which it is feared could threaten British honeybees.

Asian Hornets have been spotted across England and are believed to be growing in number.

The wasp, which is thought to come from China, south-east Asia and the Indian subcontinent, was first spotted in the UK in 2016.

Simon Cordingley from The Bee Centre in Chorley, Lancashire, said he was concerned about the threat.

"A single Asian Hornet is believed to take up to 300 honeybees in a day,” he said.

"These nests have thousands of hornets in them. That has a huge impact in local bee populations."

Simon and his wife Kath have visited to Nepal to study the hornets in their native environment.

They said the insects are not a threat to bees there because they have had chance to evolve together.

The pair witnessed bees forming a shivering Mexican wave-type movement which they believe distracts hornets or warns other bees of the predator’s presence.

But the couple say the Asian Hornet has halved the population of honeybees in France in just 10 years.

They want people to report any sightings using the government’s Asian Hornet Watch app so they can stop them taking a foothold here.

Kath Cordingley explains how special traps can capture hornets allowing experts to track them and their nests.

There are 270 species of pollinating bees in the UK, and with no natural predators they do not have a strategy to cope with the Asian Hornet.

A total of 77 nests were discovered and destroyed during 2023 and it is feared that with numbers growing at an exponential rate, many more will be recorded this year.

Kath Cordingley said this is the crucial time of year to act.

She added: "New queens are being produced in the nests as we speak. Each of those queens will go out and hibernate for the winter and start a new nest in the spring.

"If we can catch them now and destroy them, then there won't be those new queens in the springtime."

How to spot an Asian Hornet

Simon Cordingley said people should look out for a relatively small insect, not much larger than a honeybee.

"The key point is that they have yellow ends to the legs and an orange band across the back of the abdomen.

"For their size they do a lot of damage,” he added.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...