This year 205 were trapped during the spring queening phase – more than ever before – and nine primary nests across Guernsey and Herm were destroyed. Last year 71 were trapped during the same period.
‘There is definitely quite a few more and we think the the pressure on the other islands and in France is getting higher – plus we missed one nest, so we also know we have some home-grown queens this year,’ said ACLMS invasive non-native species policy and coordination officer Annelotte Baas-Jehan.
‘The spring queening phase has ended and is now moving into “track don’t trample”, where islanders are encouraged to report any sightings by taking a photo, noting what direction the hornet is travelling in and sending the information in to asianhornet@gov.gg or call or WhatsApp 07839 197082.
‘In the beginning of spring we start with spring queening, when we capture the queens.
‘The queens are the ones who are building the nest, the primary nest, and by taking them away we prevent them from building a nest. At some point the queen stays in the nest and won’t leave, so she won’t be flying around, so there won’t be opportunities for us to capture her,’ said Ms Baas-Jehan.
‘We know we can’t capture the queen, so we need to see where these Asian hornets live, where their nest is, so that’s why we started “trap, don’t trample”. There are people who think, oh, an insect, it looks scary, let’s kill it, but we don’t want that to happen with Asian hornets at this time in the season, because we need to know where they’re flying to so we can find their nest.’
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