Measuring and managing the emerging threat of Asian hornets

Research overview:

The Asian Hornet Vespa velutina is an invasive alien species that is rapidly spreading through Europe. Living in large nests of 5,000 to 20,000 individuals, Asian Hornets are voracious predators of insects – including honeybees, wild bees and wasps.  They are having a significant impact on the viability of beekeeping and honey production in mainland Europe, and they are now poised to spread into the UK, where they could pose a significant threat to both wild and managed pollinators. This could jeopardise the essential pollination service these species provide to crops and wild flowers.

Efforts to halt or limit the spread of the Asian Hornet in the UK are reliant upon finding and destroying nests as soon as possible. In 2017, in response to a request by Defra, we developed a new method for finding Asian hornet nests, by radio-tracking individual hornets as they flew back to their nests (Kennedy et al 2018). We now have two research projects, collaborating with our European partners (BBSRC project and EU Atlantic Positive Interreg project) to further develop this technique and find new ways of managing the spread of the Asian Hornet.  At the same time, we are measuring and modelling the potential impact of this invasive species on wild and managed pollinators to understand the level of threat posed by this invasive species.

Key objectives:

The BBSRC funded project (2019 – 2022) has the following aims:

• Further develop the radio telemetry method to enable efficient location of Asian Hornet nests to help limit the spread of the population in the UK and in Europe.
• Assess the impact of the Asian hornet on biodiversity by studying its diet in different environments across Europe.
• Assess the impact of the Asian hornet on wild bees and pollination services.
• Use our models of bee colony and population dynamics, BEEHAVE and BumbleBEEHAVE, to predict the potential impact of the Asian Hornet on managed and wild pollinator populations over time and in different locations.

Our contribution to the EU Atlantic Positive Project (2019 – 2022) has the following aims:

• Develop effective training materials to enable European (and international) partners and key stakeholders to utilise the radio telemetry method to locate Asian hornet nests.
• Review existing and emerging national and regional strategies targeted at controlling the Asian hornet to develop a European transnational strategy aimed at constraining its spread and minimising its impact.

Impact:

Protocols and evidence are being shared directly with policy makers in the UK, in Jersey and the EU.  Knowledge and skills are being disseminated amongst beekeepers, governmental agencies that are managing the invasive species, and pest controllers. Consequently, our technique of radio-tracking hornets to find their nests is already being used in France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and the Channel Islands. It is part of the toolset readily available to UK agencies, and was used when locating a nest in the UK in 2019.

The results of the current BBRSC project will contribute towards mitigating the environmental and economic threats caused by the species, as we will have a better understanding of the threat that it actually poses to wild insects, and the range of methods that can be used in its management.

The team are contributing to improving public awareness of the Asian Hornet and our evolving scientific understanding of this invasive species by giving talks and video documentaries to the general public and relevant interest groups.