Beekeepers on alert after Asian hornets colony found on Quantock Hills

INVASIVE Asian hornets have been discovered nesting on the Quantock Hills after a beekeeper sounded the alert last week.

The beekeeper found Asian hornets hawking his bees in Aisholt and used an app to inform the National Bee Unit (NBU), which is part of the Government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency.

An NBU team arrived in Aisholt the same day and began searching for the insects’ nest using advanced technology, attaching a tracer to captured hornets.

Because the hornets hunt within a radius of about 800 yards from their nest, the team was able to track the direction of the insects’ flight.

They eventually located the nest built by the hornets and destroyed it over the bank holiday weekend.

Asian hornets, also referred to as yellow-legged hornets, are known to be particularly aggressive and their stings are extremely painful and lower the victim’s blood pressure.

They can sting multiple times, making them more dangerous than most stinging insects.

Asian hornets predate on all insect life and their larvae can consume nearly 30 lbs of insects, equivalent to 15 bags of sugar, in a season.

They particularly target beehives and have the potential to devastate entire insect colonies at a time when the UK’s bee population has been in decline, partly because farming has become more intensive with an increased use of pesticides such as neonicotinoids.

Anybody who finds an Asian hornet is required to report it because they are a non-native species and such a threat to UK insects.

They are slightly larger than the common wasp and have a dark thorax and abdomen and bright yellow tips to their legs.

A spokesperson said: “Our local insect population is at greater risk now the Asian hornet has made it to Somerset.”

They can be reported via the Asian Hornet Watch app, or by emailing to [email protected].