Asian hornets may have become established in the UK after the earliest-ever sighting of the predatory insect was recorded by the government this month.
This is a dangerous development for Britain’s bee population and could have a knock-on effect on agriculture that needs the pollinators, because once hornets are established it is almost impossible to eliminate them.
Asian hornets (Vespa velutina) dismember and eat bees, and have thrived in France, where they have caused concern because of the number of insects they have killed. They sit outside honeybee hives and capture bees as they enter and exit. They chop up the smaller insects and feed their thoraxes to their young. Just one Asian hornet can hunt down and eat 30 to 50 honeybees in a day.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed that a hornet was captured on 11 March in Ash, Kent. It was confirmed to be an Asian hornet after laboratory testing.
Last year, the first hornet was spotted on 11 April. They are thought to be imported in goods from Europe, and occasionally they can fly or be blown across the Channel. But a sighting so early this year indicates the hornets may have stayed in the UK over winter, meaning they have established.
Diane Drinkwater, the chair of the British Beekeepers’ Association, said: “I suspect this is a winter queen that was born here. That has not been confirmed, but that would be logical.
“Their life cycle is not advanced enough for them to have developed workers by this point. So I suspect it has not migrated from abroad, but we may have missed a nest somewhere. We have seen a lot of rain so a lot of places where they hibernate might have been flooded. We always hope to see a lot of them die off.”
Asian hornet numbers have skyrocketed in the UK, with 57 sightings in 2023. That was more than double the number of the previous seven years combined.
The species first came to Europe in 2004, when they were spotted in France, and it is thought they were accidentally transported in cargo from Asia. They rapidly spread across western Europe and have crossed the Channel to Britain.
David Smith from the invertebrate charity Buglife said: “It would seem increasingly likely that they [the hornets] have overwintered given the number of records last year and nests found right through until November. We have had a relatively mild winter so travel by their own means from the continent would still be possible, and there are also open pathways via imported natural goods such as plants, soils, and timber.”
He added: “It is highly concerning that their ‘season’ appears to be getting longer and this is a real risk to wild pollinators that are already facing significant declines and are now faced with a ferocious predator as they are emerging from winter.”
Experts warned last year that lax post-Brexit trade rules could be helping the hornets colonise Britain. The EU has banned the import of soil in pot plants from the UK since Brexit, partly because invasive species such as the Asian hornet can travel undetected in soil. The UK has not put reciprocal bans in place, however, meaning damaging species from the EU could be transported in soil.
Asian hornets are smaller than native hornets and can be identified by their orange faces, yellow-tipped legs and darker abdomens.
The first Asian hornet spotted in the UK was at Tetbury in Gloucestershire in September 2016.
