Select a region
The first Asian Hornet nest found in Guernsey in 2019 has been destroyed in St Saviours.
The nest, found on the 4 September off Route Des Piques was successfully 'treated' on the morning of the 11 September by the States of Guernsey's Asian Hornet team.
Later the same day, the nest was removed and then frozen for 24 hours as a precaution, to destroy any larvae that the pesticide may not have affected.
Pictured: An Asian Hornet, image by Andy Marquis.
The nest was located 10-12m up in a sweet chestnut tree on the edge of a paddock. It was accessed using a “cherry picker”.
This, Francis Russell, Project Coordinator for the Asian Hornet Strategy, said, is the first secondary nest found on the island this year, following a period of 10 weeks in which there were no sightings of Asian Hornets.
The team were first alerted to the nest when a beekeeper near St Saviours Church reported seeing hornets around her hives - it was later located 520m to the east of those hives using bait stations which were being monitored.
Pictured: The team had to use a cherry picker to get to the nest.
"It is good news that this nest has been successfully treated and taken down. It was quite a small one, about 1ft/30cm in diameter. The next stage is to examine it carefully to see if there are any signs that new queens are being raised," Mr Russell said.
"These queens would shortly be leaving their nest to go into hibernation so we hope that we have caught this nest before that happens. Over the next week or so, we will continue to monitor the bait stations set up in the vicinity to be certain that there is only the one nest. There have been no other confirmed sightings of Asian Hornets anywhere else on the island at this time. However, it is always important that the public remain vigilant, so please continue to report any sightings.”
Most of the sightings received this year were of native insects such as the Hornet mimic hoverfly and therefore the public are encouraged not to kill the insects that they find. If a suspected hornet is sighted, please contact the Asian Hornet Team by emailingasianhornet@gov.gg or calling 01481 234567.
Mr Russell also asks people to include a picture and record of your location.
For more information, go to the team's Facebook page, which can be found above.
Pictured top: The States' Asian Hornet team destroying the nest.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.