Bees at risk of being 'eaten' by Asian hornets as queen numbers increase by 1000% (2025)

Experts have warned that record numbers of Asian hornets could descend on the UK this year, raising concerns for the country’s bees.

The warning comes after “unprecedented” early sightings of Asian hornets – which can eat 50 honey bees a day – have been recorded in Jersey,

“The first queens were more than two weeks early this year,” said John De Carteret, a founding member of the Jersey Asian Hornet Group, which has about 550 traps in place this year. “We’re obviously concerned,” he told The Observer newspaper.

There were 262 queen Asian hornets recorded on Jersey by 11 April, a year-on-year increase of 1,090 per cent, it has been reported.

“When we reach 266 queens, we will equal the total from 2024 – and that figure wasn’t reached until 25 June,” said De Carteret.

Experts say the dry, sunny start to spring this year and the rapid spread of the species in Europe could cause numbers to soar in the UK.

“There’s a strong risk of this year’s numbers being at least as high as in 2023 and the potential to be even higher. It would be a surprise if numbers were not above the 2024 level,” said Ian Campbell, of the British Beekeepers Association.

Also known as the Asian predatory wasp, a swarm of the insects is capable of killing a hive of 30,000 honey bees.

Any “sightings of concern” should be reported to the government’s National Bee Unit via the Asian Hornet Watch app or online, using the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) reporting tool.

Ecology professor Helen Roy of UKCEH and Exeter University said the hornets pose “a major threat” to wildlife and biodiversity, adding: “There isn’t a natural enemy that we’re aware of that could control the Asian hornet.”

It is thought successive generations of the species mated with a queen which arrived in France in 2004 in a container of Chinese crockery.

Smaller than the UK’s native hornet, the non-native Asian hornet has striking yellow “socks” – leading to its common name in Asia of the “yellow-legged hornet”.

They are slightly smaller than our native European hornet but larger than a common wasp.

And they are darker than European hornets and many types of wasp, but have a distinct orange face and an orange-yellow band towards the tail end of its abdomen.

They pose a risk to the public with a sting that can be painful.

In very rare cases, where a person is allergic, a sting can lead to symptoms such as difficulty breathing, hives and swelling. In extremely rare cases, a sting may cause death due to an anaphylactic reaction – a life-threatening allergic reaction in which blood pressure falls and the airway closes.

Asian hornets are not generally aggressive but are known to be highly defensive of their nests and can swoop down and sting in “mass attacks” when they feel threatened, so don’t approach or disturb their nests.

While the risk to humans is relatively low, the danger Asian hornets pose to honey bees is much higher, the Government warns – because they eat them in vast quantities.

Last year, scientists developed a new AI system which is able to spot the species with a high degree of accuracy and raise the alarm.

As part of the system, scientists created a prototype system which entices the hornets with a mixture of sugar and fermented fruit extracts, and takes and analyses a photograph of them using artificial intelligence.