Beekeepers to learn how to fight Asian hornets

Volunteers from Lincolnshire Beekeepers Association are hoping to learn how to fight the invasive predator

A team of beekeepers is to travel to the Channel Islands to learn how to fight invasive Asian hornets.

Four volunteers from the Lincolnshire Beekeepers Association (LBKA) will travel to the islands in mid-September to work with the Jersey Asian Hornet Action Team.

The Jersey team has been establishing methods of fighting the yellow-legged predator for about nine years.

With over 70 Asian hornet nests discovered across England last summer, the LBKA predicts the invasive predators, which are a threat to native British honeybees, could soon reach Lincolnshire.

Asian hornets have dark bodies, a wide orange stripe on the fourth abdomen section and yellow legs

LBKA, a charity which was formed by the British Beekeepers Association in 1874, said the Asian hornets "prey on honeybee hives as well as other vital pollinators".

It added one Asian hornet alone can kill 60 to 90 honeybees per day.

With a record number of sightings in the UK in 2023, The National Bee Unit said it destroyed 72 nests in 56 locations last year – most of them in Kent.

Stewart Maher, Lincolnshire’s Asian hornet coordinator said: "The experience gained by the volunteers in Jersey will be invaluable and will help us protect the county’s bees and the public from the Asian yellow-legged hornet."

The group heading to the Channel Islands this year is comprised of members from Sleaford, Boston, Stamford and North Lincolnshire.

A further party representing Lincoln, Grantham, Horncastle and Louth is set to undertake the journey in 2025.

'Ecological disaster'

Peter Verdigaal from the Association said: "The Asian hornet is an ecological disaster.

"This is a perilous situation for honeybees and other insect life in Lincolnshire.

"That’s why we are calling on everyone in the county to be vigilant, be aware of and report Asian Hornet sightings by taking a photo and using the Asian hornet watch App on your iPhone."

Asian hornets can be identified by distinct markings - yellow lower legs and a largely black body - and is twice the size of a common wasp.

If people think they see an Asian hornet or nest, they are encouraged to take a photo and report it via the app or by using an online form.