Bee-killing Asian hornets set up home in the Island

A colony of Asian hornets, which can contain up to 6,000 insects, was discovered last week in a shed in Fliquet, St Martin, and quickly exterminated by beekeepers.

Just one hornet can eat up to 50 bees in a single day.

Dr Tim du Feu, president of the Jersey Bee Keepers Association, says the next four weeks will be crucial in trying to control the pest from spreading too far across the Island.

Dr du Feu was tending to hives in the area with fellow beekeeper Ken Healy when they got the call about the nest at Fliquet.

He said: ‘We put a clear plastic bag around the nest and cut it down from the roof and we put a second bag over it so the hornets were trapped in the bags.

‘Then we had to swat the individual hornets that were coming into the shed. I then froze the nest by putting it in a freezer and that killed them. The important thing was that we got the queen.’

Asian hornets – the Latin name is Vespa velutina – have spread rapidly throughout France since arriving in Europe in a shipment of pot plants from China in 2004.

The first official sighting of the invasive insect in the British Isles was in Alderney in June last year. A colony was subsequently discovered and destroyed in the northern Channel Island and by September the insects had reached the UK.

They were also two confirmed sightings in Jersey last year, at Mount Bingham in July and later in Trinity.

Environment are asking Islanders to help combat the Asian hornet by checking outbuildings, sheds and garages and if they find a nest they should report it by calling the department on 441600.

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