What can be done?

Eradication?

The chances of completely eradicating the species are very slim. Even stopping the further spread of the species is likely not achievable. Why is that?

• Due to the high cost involved
• Because of the limited resources available
• Because of the short window for intervention
• Due to the high probability of new yellow-legged hornets entering from abroad

So, what is our goal then?

Reducing the impact of the yellow-legged Hornet

How do we do that, for example:

• By destroying nests
• By placing queen traps at beehives
• By informing the public

We follow these guidelines

We recommend destroying nests

Destroying the nest is the only way to ensure that no new queens emerge. Sometimes, exterminators can completely remove a nest. But most often, they have to inject insecticides, similar to dealing with a regular wasp nest. They prefer to do this at a time when there are as many wasps present as possible.

We advise against placing selective traps in the spring

A colony produces up to 500 hornets, and some of them might become queens. These are the ‘founder’ queens. Why do we advise against using selective traps to catch founder queens?

• There is a lot of competition among hornets, but only a small portion survives the winter and starts a new nest in the spring. By capturing founder queens, you increase the survival chances for the remaining queens, who can then establish a new nest.
• There are no reliable selective traps on the market that only catch hornets. In such traps, you mostly find useful, native, often protected, and rare insects.

Our advice?

• If you still set up a selective trap, check it daily and release insects you didn’t intend to catch.
• A selective trap can be useful if a beehive is under attack by yellow-legged hornets.

We register to learn and report

We aim to register as many destroyed nests as possible. So be sure to let us know when you have eradicated a nest (as a comment with your report). We use this information to answer various questions, for example:

• What works and what doesn’t work to manage the species?
• Do our actions have side effects on other insects?
• Are the costs of nest destruction proportionate to the results?

Registration is also important for reporting to the European Commission under the ‘Invasive Alien Species Regulation (Dutch)’.