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 Asian hornets entering from abroad

So, what is our goal then?

Reducing the impact of the Asian 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 Asian 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)’.