The Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) is a predatory wasp native to Asia. Asian hornets are an Alert Species and potential sightings need to be reported as soon as possible to prevent their establishment in GB.

The first sighting of the Asian hornet in GB was confirmed by the National Bee Unit in September 2016 in the Tetbury area of Gloucestershire. There have been 32 Asian hornet nests in 27 locations, primarily along the South Coast of England (as of 1^st of September 2023). To keep uptodate with sightings please check the National Bee Unit website.

If you see an Asian hornet, do not attempt to capture them or destroy their nests. Report sightings by using the Asian Hornet Watch app on Android and iPhone or you can report sightings online here.

What's the concern ? 

Asian hornets prey on insects, including pollinators, and spiders, they will also eat small mammal carcasses. They are a significant threat to bee colonies and other native species. It’s a potential ‘new’ invasive non-native species, if it is successful in establishing it could harm our native bee populations and ecosystems. It has already established in France and Belgium.

It’s widely recognised that climate change will favor many invasive species, such as the Asian hornet. For example: 

• changing climatic conditions (e.g. warmer winters) will either allow new invasive species to establish or enable invasive species we currently have to spread further North,
• invasive species also tend to have a wider environmental tolerance. This means climate change could provide the perfect conditions for invasive species to out-compete native species.

Asian hornets can regulate the temperature of their nests at around 30°C by regurgitating water from their mandibles and by vibrating their wings to cool down the colony.  These adaptations keep the nest active and allow them to hunt during extreme high or low temperatures.

It’s therefore essential to raise awareness of Asian hornets so that anybody can identify and report sightings. This is one of the purposes of our Ecosystem Invaders campaign, for which the Asian hornet has been used as the eye-catching characters to draw the attention of the public towards invasive species.

Why now?

This year the British Beekeepers Association and the Animal and Plant Health Agency are running Asian hornet week from the 4^th of September to the 10^th of September 2023, with the aim of raising awareness of Asian hornet.

You are probably wondering why are we writing a blog in early September when you have seen many honeybees, solitary bees, bumblebees, hornets and wasps throughout the Spring and Summer….

Well, at this time of year, Asian hornets start ‘hawking’ in front of the entrances of honeybee hives or apiaries. This behavior starts when the Asian hornet's diet changes from a sugar-based diet to a protein-based diet. This shift in diet starts in August/September when the workers start feeding a large number of larvae in the nest. This is when Asian hornets start focusing on prey sites which have an abundance of resources e.g. honeybee’s hives or apiaries. They will return to the same site repeatedly until the resources are exhausted i.e. all the bees are gone. There are two main impacts of 'hawking';

1. 'Foraging paralysis' - the lack of flight activity in bee hives due to hovering hornets
2. 'Homing failure' - Bee homing failure due to predation by hornets

These impacts of 'hawking' can greatly affect the survivorship of the bee hive, but this ‘hawking’ behaviour (shown in the image below) allows you to identify potential Asian hornets and report them as soon as possible.

Asian hornet nests are exposed in late Summer and early Autumn as the leaves start to fall from trees and bushes. Reporting these nests helps the National Bee Unit locate Asian hornets and gives us the best opportunity for preventing the emergence of new Asian hornet queens.

How do I know if I’ve seen one?

Identifying Asian hornets is easy once you know what you are looking for. The image below shows that the Asian hornet is nearly entirely black, with a velvety body. The abdomen is black except for the one very wide orange stripe on the fourth segment and a few fine yellow bands. The legs look like they’ve been dipped in yellow paint and the face is orange.

If you suspect that you have seen an Asian hornet at night time, you are probably mistaken as Asian hornets, do not fly at night.

The most difficult thing about trying to identify the foe (the Asian hornet) is that they look so similar to lots of other friendly native species here in Britain.

Here are 5 similar species:

Get involved!

Now that you can identify an Asian hornet get involved and report any sightings!

Recording these potential sightings is vitally important to stopping the establishment of any Asian hornet populations.

If you suspect you have found an Asian hornet or nest, please do not approach, attempt to capture or destroy either the individual or nest. If it is safe, please try to take a picture, and make a note of your location. Even if you cannot take a picture, report it on the GB NNSS website via online form or using the Asian Hornet Watch app.

The general public are vital in the preventing the establishment of this Alert Species and by reporting you are protecting valuable native species!!

If you would like to find out more or need help identifying a potential Asian hornet; please send any questions to gareth.holland-jones@northwaleswildlifetrust.org.uk.