Salisbury and District Beekeepers Association (SDBKA)

The Asian Hornet, Vespa velutina, is a native species of Asia which was inadvertently introduced to South France in 2004.  It has spread rapidly since then and is now widespread in France, Germany and the Iberian peninsula.  It has reached the Channel Islands, where a campaign to find and destroy its nests is currently being waged.  There have been 23 confirmed sightings in the UK since 2016 up to the end of 2022, and there have been reports of sightings in 2023, at least one confirmed, in Dorset in the Christchurch area.

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Asian Hornet is a voracious predator of other insects, feeding on the protein in their thorax, and is a danger to our native insects in general, and to honey bees in particular.  Colonies of honey bees represent a particularly attractive food source to Asian Hornet, and can be rapidly destroyed by this predation.

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We ask that members of the public, as well as beekeepers, learn to recognise the Asian Hornet, and keep a look out for it. The picture below will help you with identification, and there's further information here.  The Asian Hornet Watch app for iOS or Android makes identification and reporting sightings easy.  Alternatively you can use an online report form or you can email alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk (please include a photograph). Please also let us know if you identify an Asian Hornet in our locality. If you can, trap the insect alive so that you can make a definite identification and give the authorities an opportunity to track it to find any nest.

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Felton Kelly is our Association Asian Hornet Action Team coordinator, and can be contacted by e-mail or by telephone on 01980 610113 / 07833914826.  You can also use the website contact form below to notify us of a sighting or possible sighting.

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