More than 69 queen Asian hornets have been trapped so far this year with five primary nests destroyed.
The team tasked with trying to eradicate them our shores says that is more than in any previous year – but their work is far from over.
They’re now reminding us to ‘Track Don’t Trample’ any that we may see.
The idea is that they can then use the information collected through tracking their flight paths to work out where their nests are so they can be destroyed.
The message is simple:
- Take a photo of the hornet if possible
- Note the direction it travels in
- Send this information to asianhornet@gov.gg or call 07839 197082
The nests can be anywhere – with a gardener recently disturbing an active worker nest in a greenhouse in Guernsey, by chance.
The Asian Hornet Team said nests may be in tall trees or lower down in hedges or brambles as well as in more unexpected locations, so the advice to everyone is to check carefully for signs of activity before you cut back hedges or vegetation.
“It’s all due to the fact that the Asian Queen hornets will shortly be leaving their primary nests with their small broods of worker hornets to build their large main nests in new locations,” said a spokesperson.
The ‘Spring Queening’ phase, which ended recently, saw hundreds of volunteers work together to trap queen Asian hornets across the island.
This was done as they emerged from hibernation in the Spring or as they arrived here from France and possibly the other islands.
Each of the volunteers was tasked with checking the traps every day throughout the two month trapping period for the presence of hornets and most importantly, to release any beneficial insects that may have accidentally entered the traps.
Where that revealed the invasive species in record numbers, Francis Russell, Project Coordinator for the Asian Hornet Strategy said the work now continues through the ‘Track don’t Trample’ phase.
“We are really grateful to our trapping volunteers for their support and commitment to this project. We’re also grateful to members of the wider public who have played a vital role in reporting potential Asian hornet or nest sightings to us. This work depends on them.
“If you spot what you think might be a hornet, take a photo, observe where it goes,
send the information to us and we’ll do the rest.”