British honeybee populations ‘could be decimated’, experts warn – after invasive Asian hornets survive UK winter for the first time

Invasive Asian hornets have survived a UK winter for the first time, government scientists have discovered, raising fears that British honeybee populations could be decimated. 

It comes after the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) reported a record number of 72 nests being spotted in the last year.

Asian hornets, which have black bodies and yellow legs, eat honeybees as well as fruit and flowers.

They are native to Southeast Asia but evidence is now beginning to show this species could be in the first stages of being established in the UK. 

Concerns have been raised by experts that if the insect does establish itself in Britain, this could have dramatic consequences for our native pollinators.

Ian Campbell of the British Beekeepers Association, has warned that Britain is at a ‘tipping point’ where the species becomes well established in the UK.

He told The Times: ‘They like social insects (such as honeybees), because social insects congregate in groups — and that’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the hornet’.

Mr Campbell told the newspaper that if they did become established in the UK, that some beekeepers in the worst-effected areas may give up.

Experts say that Asian hornets are dangerously close to becoming established in the UK. Members of the public have been urged to be vigilant for the invasive species 

Concerns have been raised by experts that if the insect does establish itself in Britain, this could have dramatic consequences for our native pollinators

The insects do not threaten human health but can destroy bee hives and effect populations.

There have so far been 15 confirmed sightings of Asian hornets in the UK in March, April and May, compared to only two by the same point last year.

According to the British Beekeeper Association, an Asian hornet can hunt down and eat between 30 to 50 honeybees a day and their habit of hawking or hovering outside the hive stops bees from collecting nectar and pollen to feed themselves. 

The species arrived in France in 2004 and have since spread across the continent. There is an estimated 500,000 Asian hornet nests in France.

To make matters worse, in 2022 France experienced a ‘surge year’ which caused the Asian hornet population to grow rapidly. 

It was previously reported by MailOnline that Kent had become a hotspot for Asian hornets, where 38 of the 52 hornet sightings in 2023 took place.

For years, the number of Asian hornets in the UK remained low with only one or two being spotted each year.

However, in 2023 the number of hornet sightings suddenly exploded.

The insects do not threaten human health but can destroy bee hives and effect populations

The Kent coast has been badly affected by Asian hornets. In 2023 the National Bee Unit removed 21 nests from the seaside town of Folkestone (pictured) 

Each nest produces 350 fertilised queens (pictured) each year, every one of these is capable of creating their own nest should they survive the winter 

In just 12 months, The National Bee Unit destroyed 72 nests in 56 locations compared with just a single nest the year before.

The vast majority of those sightings were clustered along the southern coast, particularly in Kent, and East Sussex. 

In the seaside town of Folkestone – the UK’s hornet capital – a staggering 21 nests were destroyed in 2023. 

However, Asian hornets have been spotted further North, with one nest even being destroyed in Hackney, London.

Nests have also been found and destroyed in North Yorkshire, Suffolk, Hampshire, and Dorset.

Mr Campbell previously told MailOnline that Kent is on ‘the front line’ of the hornet invasion due to its proximity to France.

As long as France has a large Asian hornet population the insects will continue to arrive in the UK, but the bigger risk is that they become established here permanently. 

Mr Campbell says that there is ‘a significant risk’ that Asian hornets will establish a permanent breeding population. 

He says: ‘They’re an apex predator, they are very successful, they are very adaptive, and the climate presents no problems for them – it’s rich pickings for them.’