People are being urged to look out for Asian hornet primary nests in and around their home, after a Guernsey gardener disturbed an active worker nest last week.
The ‘active worker’ means the hornets colony is growing, and they are working to hunt insects, build their nest, and forage for food in gardens, fields, and hedgerows.
The environmental team are stressing that while the hornet’s sting is not considered to be much worse than that of a bee or wasp, hornets are very defensive and will aggressively protect their nest if it is disturbed.
They are asking residents to contact them if anyone comes across a nest and they will do a site visit, and safely destroy and remove the nest and colony.
The first recorded sighting of an Asian hornet in Guernsey was in March 2017. Over
the last two years the number of Asian hornet secondary nests found in island
has been reduced from 14 in 2023, to 3 in 2024.
Julia Henney, Senior Natural Environment Officer says the public is very important in helping control the invasive species;
“This is earlier than usual to find the first primary nest of the year with active workers and it tells us that queen hornets have wasted no time in setting up nests where they have found a suitable location,” she said.
“It is so much easier to deal with the smaller nests made by the queen so we would urge people to check out their sheds and outbuildings and report anything to us immediately.”
Ms Henney continued; “We know that after a few weeks the queen and newly hatched workers will leave the primary nest behind and relocate, typically in the treetops nearby to construct a larger secondary nest – these are a lot more difficult to deal with. By sending in a photo, we will be able to will confirm if it is a wasp or a hornet’s nest and deal with it accordingly.”
Th team also perform an annual Spring Queening programme with an aim to catch as many queen hornets as possible as they arrive on island from France or emerge from hibernation.
Now entering its final weeks, it started at the beginning of April and 63 queen Asian hornets have been captured in Guernsey this year by volunteers in their traps.
The programme started in 2019, with an aim of keeping the insects population as low as possible, to protect public health and the island’s biodiversity.
If you discover what you believe to be an Asian hornet or a hornet nest, you can contact the team tackling the invasive species by email, asianhornet@gov.gg, or by calling 07839 197082.
They ask that you provide as much information as possible, including sharing a photo if this is feasible. You can find out more about the efforts to combat the spread of Asian Hornets on the States website HERE.