Yellow Legged Hornet
The Yellow Legged Hornet (also known as the Asian Hornet) is an invasive species that poses a huge threat to Britain’s pollinators including honeybees and to biodiversity in general.
The MBKA has a contingency plan to ensure that our Association members are kept up to date with developments. At this stage, the plan is to concentrate on spotting and dealing with any Asian Hornet incursions into our area. Members are asked to be super vigilant and spend time looking at the activity around their hives. We also need the general public to be aware and on the look out. Early detection of Asian Hornets is critical.
If you would like someone to come and talk to a group that might be interested, please get in touch.
An ID sheet can be downloaded from the National Bee Unit Asian Hornet page: https://www.nationalbeeunit.com/diseases-and-pests/asian-hornet
Monitoring and Trapping
Anyone can monitor, just by knowing what to look out for and where to look. We can also help you to set up bait stations and show you how to monitor them. We hope to enlist the help of the general public as part of our raising awareness campaign.
Trapping is more controversial as we do not want to trap native species (bycatch). MBKA is currently trialling and closely monitoring a trap that has been modified to eliminate bycatch. We are distributing these around our region.
Suspected Asian Hornet Sightings
There are thousands of misidentifications in reports for Asian Hornet every year. These reports are time consuming to follow up which is where our local team can be of help. We will have a team of verifiers who can triage sightings, help to get a photograph and set up traps if necessary.
If you think you may have seen an Asian Hornet please contact one of our Asian Hornet coordinators.
Try to get a photograph.
Make a note of the location.
If you are certain it is an Asian Hornet and you have a good photograph or a dead specimen, you can report it direct to the Non Native Species Secretariat using the Asian Hornet Watch app or the online notification form https://risc.brc.ac.uk/alert.php?species=asian_hornet and please inform one of our Asian Hornet coordinators too.
Contact one of our Asian Hornet Coordinators by text, phone or Whatsapp:
Pauline Aslin 07407 860481
Julia Aldridge 0782 5003108
Or click on the link below and enter your postcode to find Asian Hornet Coordinators in your area.
https://www.bbka.org.uk/asian-hornet-teams
Brief guides for our trap managers and verifiers can be downloaded here: Trap Manager : Verifier