Asian Hornets 'established' despite sightings drop

Fewer yellow-legged hornets have been recorded this year than in 2025, but the discovery of nests across a wider area has raised concerns from a local group that the species is becoming established in the South East.

Also known as the Asian hornet, it is an "invasive, non-native species" which has been sighted in the region previously.

Asian hornets feed on insects and are a threat to bees, because they like to feed bee grubs and dismembered adult bee thoraxes to their young, beekeepers say.

The National Bee Unit reported on Thursday there has been 53 nests found and 167 sightings in the country this year, compared to 93 and 389 respectively last year.

Tony Warren, co-founder of Asian Hornet Alert from Gravesend, said it was "good news" that the numbers have dropped.

"However in the South East, particularly in Kent, the concentration of numbers there indicate there is breeding," he added.

"They could have travelled from elsewhere with small pockets coming from abroad."

He added there are reported nest sightings in Norfolk, Yorkshire and along the Hampshire and Dorset coast.

Asked if the hornets were now established in the South East, Warren said the repeated discovery of nests in the same areas year after year suggested there was an established population.

Dan Etheridge, from the National Bee Unit, believed the Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA) has contributed to the fewer numbers thanks to its eradication programme.

"DNA analysis in the past revealed there's very limited breeding going on in the UK," he said.

"The South East is the corner of the country we get the most hornets - it's very close to the French coast.

"This year we are seeing more of a wider spread, but they are isolated.

"But this patterned has continued from when we had our first nest in 2016."

Etheridge says there are nests reported in Somerset this year, as well as Essex, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire.

"We're becoming more effective at tackling yellow-legged hornets with AI and tracking technology," he says.

"We're winning the battle, but we still need the public to report sightings because if we don't know about them, we can't act."

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