Asian Hornet in the UK: Identification, Risks and What Beekeepers Are Doing

The Asian hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) is a non-native predatory wasp that preys on honeybees and other pollinators, and has been spreading across the UK since its first confirmed sighting in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, in 2016. It poses a serious risk to honeybee colonies because it hovers outside hive entrances to catch and kill foraging bees, and the public is asked to report any sighting immediately via the free Asian Hornet Watch app or the GB Non-native Species Secretariat so nests can be traced and destroyed.

What Is the Asian Hornet and Why Does It Matter to British Beekeeping?

The Asian hornet, sometimes called the yellow-legged hornet, arrived in Europe in 2004 after being accidentally imported into France in a shipment of pottery from China. It spread rapidly across France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium before being detected in the UK. Unlike our native European hornet (Vespa crabro), which is a relatively minor nuisance to bees, the Asian hornet is a specialist predator of honeybees and can seriously weaken or wipe out colonies, particularly smaller or stressed hives.

For independent beekeepers, this isn't an abstract concern. A single Asian hornet nest, which can house thousands of workers by late summer, is capable of hunting multiple apiaries within its foraging range of several kilometres. That's why the UK's response relies heavily on vigilance from beekeepers and the public alike, not just government agencies.

How Do You Identify an Asian Hornet (Vespa velutina)?

Correct identification matters, because the Asian hornet is often confused with the larger, harmless European hornet. Key features include:

• Size: Queens are around 25mm, workers around 20mm, noticeably smaller than the European hornet.
• Colour: A dark brown or black body (rather than the European hornet's orange and brown banding), with a distinctive yellow or orange band near the tip of the abdomen.
• Legs: The lower part of each leg is yellow, giving rise to the nickname "yellow-legged hornet".
• Face: An orange-yellow face, in contrast to the European hornet's paler, more yellow face.
• Nests: Large, egg-shaped paper nests, often built high in trees, though sometimes found in hedgerows, sheds or roof spaces. By fruiting season these nests can be the size of a football or larger.

The GB Non-native Species Secretariat and Natural History Museum both publish clear side-by-side comparison images, which are worth studying before you're out in the garden or at the apiary.

Is the Asian Hornet Established in the UK?

Since 2016, the National Bee Unit (part of the Animal and Plant Health Agency) has tracked and destroyed Asian hornet nests across England, with the highest concentration of sightings in Kent and East Sussex, reflecting their proximity to established populations in northern France. Numbers have fluctuated year on year, but 2023 saw a marked increase in confirmed nests compared with previous years, prompting renewed public awareness campaigns.

The UK is not yet considered to have a permanently established, self-sustaining population in the way France or northern Spain does, but the trend is one of increasing incursions, often linked to warmer autumns that allow queens to survive and found new nests the following spring. You can find updated distribution maps on the UK government's Asian hornet pages.

Why Are Asian Hornets a Threat to Honeybees and British Honey?

Asian hornets practise a hunting behaviour known as "hawking", hovering a short distance from a hive entrance and snatching returning foragers mid-flight. A hive under sustained attack becomes reluctant to forage, which reduces nectar and pollen collection just when colonies need to be building up stores for winter. In severe cases, prolonged predation pressure can cause colony collapse.

This matters for honey lovers too. Weakened colonies produce less honey, and beekeepers may need to feed or relocate hives to protect them, which can affect both yield and the beekeeper's ability to maintain multiple apiary sites. Supporting small-scale, independent beekeepers, rather than relying on large-scale blended or imported honey, helps ensure that the people on the front line of this threat, who monitor their own hives daily and notice problems early, can keep doing the work that protects British bee populations.

What Should You Do If You Spot an Asian Hornet?

If you believe you've seen an Asian hornet:

1. Do not approach or disturb a nest. Asian hornets can sting if they feel threatened, and nests are often high up or hidden.
2. Take a photo if it's safe to do so. This helps experts confirm identification.
3. Report it immediately via the Asian Hornet Watch app, available free for iOS and Android, or online through the GB Non-native Species Secretariat.
4. Note the location and time. This information helps the National Bee Unit track and, where necessary, destroy nests before they produce new queens in fasters.

Rapid reporting is genuinely effective. Early nest destruction, particularly in spring before worker numbers build up, significantly reduces the risk of a colony becoming established in an area.

How Are UK Beekeepers Responding?

Many British beekeepers now run spring queen-trapping programmes, using baited traps to catch emerging queens before they can found new nests, and some regional beekeeping associations coordinate monitoring networks with their local councils and the National Bee Unit. Hive entrance reducers, which make it harder for hornets to access and hover at the entrance, are also increasingly common in areas with confirmed sightings.

If you want to understand more about how individual beekeepers manage these pressures, and to see the care that goes into keeping colonies healthy through the full season, it's worth exploring profiles of beekeepers directly. Find raw honey from a beekeeper near you and you can often read about their apiary locations, their approach to hive health, and the varietals they produce, from classic wildflower honey to the richer, more mineral notes of heather honey.

How Does This Affect the Honey You Buy?

When you choose raw, unheated honey from a known, named beekeeper, you're supporting someone who has a direct, personal stake in protecting their colonies from threats like the Asian hornet. This is quite different from blended or imported honey, where the origin of the honey, and the health of the bees that made it, is far harder to trace. Each jar of genuine British wildflower or blossom honey represents a season's worth of careful hive management, often including extra vigilance against pests and predators that supermarket blends simply can't guarantee.

Choosing seasonal, regional honey, whether that's a delicate spring blossom honey or a deeper, more robust heather honey from the moors, also means your purchase supports the kind of small-scale, diversified beekeeping that helps the UK's bee population remain resilient against emerging threats.

In Summary

The Asian hornet is a real and growing concern for British beekeeping, but it is not yet an uncontrollable one. Public reporting, rapid nest destruction, and the daily vigilance of independent beekeepers all play a part in keeping colonies safe. If you'd like to support that effort directly while enjoying genuinely raw, traceable honey, discover British beekeepers near you and taste the difference that careful, local hive management makes.

Find raw honey from a beekeeper near you

Written with the help of AI for Local Honey, championing pure, raw honey from independent British beekeepers.

This article is for general information and is not medical advice.