Asian Hornets

Asian Hornets are a non-native species of hornet that can cause problems for our native bees.

Asian hornet facts

• Asian hornets (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) are slightly smaller than native European hornets and look like large black wasps with orange face and yellow legs:
• An Asian hornet queen is up to 30mm long; workers are up to 25mm long.
• Asian hornets are dark brown or black with a velvety body and the abdomen is almost entirely black except for a yellow fourth abdominal segment. Legs are brown with yellow ends.
• The Asian hornet is active mainly between April and November (peak August/September) and is inactive over the winter.  
• A single Asian hornet can kill 50 bees a day, with a nest containing up to 6,000 workers and up to 350 queens.
• In Jersey, France and large areas of Western Europe they are stripping the environment bare of insects before moving on to prey on managed honeybee colonies.

Asian hornets are a notifiable invasive species and should be reported immediately with photo if possible using:  

• The Asian Hornet Watch app  - which is available to download, along with an online recording form at www.nonnativespecies.org/alerts/asianhornet
• or alternatively by email - by email asianhornet@somersetbeekeepers.org.uk or altertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk