The UK’s Chief Plant Health Officer is urging UK beekeepers and the public to be increasingly vigilant to the presence of Asian hornet and report any sightings as we move into the peak Summer season. The Asian hornet is smaller than our native hornet and poses no greater risk to human health than our native wasps and hornets. However, they do pose a risk to honey bees and insect pollinators. Asian hornets are distinctive and can be identified by their very dark body, wide orange stripe on the 4th abdomen section and yellow leg ends. They are much larger in size than our native hornets. Any sightings can be made via the Asian Hornet Watch App. The warning comes after 2023 saw a record number of Asian hornets found in the UK. The Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit attended every credible sighting, locating and destroying 72 nests in 56 locations with the majority of nests found in Kent. The National Bee Unit continues to stand ready to respond quickly and effectively to any further possible sightings. The National Bee Unit continues to take action to eradicate the Asian hornet in the UK, and this spring rolled out trapping in areas where there was an increased risk that Asian hornet queens may have overwintered. The traps, which have the means to allow non-target invertebrates to escape, have been set at locations across Kent, East Sussex, Devon and North Yorkshire. Nicola Spence, Defra’s Chief Plant and Bee Health Officer, says:
“By ensuring we are alerted to possible sightings as early as possible, the public can help us take swift and effective action to stamp out the threat posed by Asian hornets. “While the Asian hornet poses no greater risk to human health than other wasps or hornets, they can damage honey bee colonies and harm other pollinators. “Please continue to be vigilant for any Asian hornets and if you think you’ve spotted one, report your sighting through the Asian hornet app or online.”
If you suspect you have seen an Asian hornet you should report this using the iPhone and Android app ‘Asian Hornet Watch’ or by using our online report form. Alternatively, e-mail [email protected]. Include a photograph if you can safely obtain one. Identification guides and more information are available and if you keep bees you should keep up to date with the latest situation on the gov.uk sightings page and on BeeBase. It is important to take care not to approach or disturb a nest. Asian hornets are not generally aggressive towards people but an exception to this is when they perceive a threat to their nest.
“The Asian hornet is smaller than our native hornet”
Also this article;
“They are much larger in size than our native hornet”
Really informative, a shining beacon of veracity once again Island Echo.
exactly what I was thinking,…
so which is it ?
They are smaller.
IF they were the only invasive species from Asia, then our real worries would be small.
Saw the headline and thought. “Bet that prompts IE’s battalions of swivel eyed loons to come out of the woodwork.
Wasn’t disappointed.
More proof of climate change. We have more storms, more flooding, more record high temperatures and more invasive species. And it’s only going to get worse because the oil barons have our governments in their pockets. Oil is not your friend, it’s our poison.
No it isn’t actually. They first reached Europe in shipments of wood and only recently made it across the channel.
Be quite Fred! I’d like to see how you could live with out some form of oil made products, Morons like you are the problem with the world pushing your hippy ideas.
Yes there has been an increase in temperature over a period of decades… But you are wrong! There have been no more floods, or high temperatures and even the polar bear population is doing just fine. Contrary to your thought it is very evident the climate-alarmists have governments in the pockets and to the tune of 4 trillion dollars tax payers dollars/Stirling which makes the so called oil barons look like paupers in their ability to leverage with the added caveat the sustainable needle has hardly moved and will never be able to ‘sustain’ modern life should some fundamentalist zealot decide that NET ZERO CARBON is a good idea and ignore all the science and just force the issue. Go and read Shellenberger who has seen the light….
Denying evidence of global warming just makes you look like a complete moron. Highest temperatures ever recorded, hottest year on record, record rainfall, unprecedented flooding, wildfires, desertification, dying coral reefs, extinctions, etc. All of these things are real and coming to a home near you very soon. Deniers are just attention seeking morons. The truth is clear for all to see.
All the records being broken are usually attributed to figures used by the BBC from 1940 to the present day. Bare in mind temperature measuring equipment in many parts of the world, including the oceans, have only been in place in more recent years. Therefore record breaking temperatures are based on a very small selection of fragmented data, what is not known, is assumed (made up). Plus also earlier temperature data is in written form and not included in the statistics, which when is computerised and included in temperature statistic, has a very interesting correcting effect that has dramatically revised down many of these so called record breaking events.
And to be consistent…. I will again suggest you get along to Michael Shellenberger who is a decades long environmentalist but spells out why the present progressive-left ideological climate alarmism drive to eradicate fossil fuels is not warranted and will have apocalyptic repercussions if not stopped – he is very easy to find on YouTube or the non-censored Rumble…
https://youtu.be/N-yALPEpV4w?si=LHGkU6zrvspGplAj
Big diesel is the only way to live