Second Asian hornet nest found

Wednesday 30 October 2019

A nest of Asian hornets has been discovered near the garden of Victor Hugo's house, in St Peter Port.

The dedicated States of Guernsey team set up to deal with the invasive species set up a number of bait stations near Havelet after getting reports of hornets feeding on a late flowering shrub in the area.

The hornets were spotted flying in a southerly direction from the bait station at the Guernsey Island Archives in Cornet Street, while others were seen heading east from the Pandora Hotel.

Pictured: The nest has been treated.

After hours of observation, the team noticed hornets arriving in the Hauteville House garden every five minutes and then returning over the boundary wall to the terraced gardens below. As they approached the nest, the team was surprised to see the hornets disappearing into the top of a six foot wall, where they were nesting in a cavity.

"We were amazed to see a lot of hornets that were busily coming and going from the top of the stone wall," said Project Coordinator for the Asian Hornet Strategy, Francis Russell. "The entrance holes were only large enough to let a single hornet enter at a time. Although we have found nests in all sorts of locations before, we've never found one that was inside a free standing wall.

"The owners were equally surprised as they had read in a previous news article that we were looking for a nest in the area. They had checked around their garden for signs of hornets but had not seen anything.

"We treated the nest successfully on Monday morning but will have no idea how large it is or whether any queen hornets have been raised in the nest. Over the weekend we set some traps close by and picked up a total of 103 hornets prior to treatment.

Pictured: The nest was found near Hauteville House.

"This cold weather will definitely speed up the end of any surviving hornets that we don't know about but the risk is that queens may have already left to go into hibernation. As always, we ask people to remain vigilant and continue to report any sightings to us."

Pictured top: Asian hornet spotted in the area.