MORE volunteers are urgently needed to track Asian Hornets in Jersey – a pursuit which has been described both as “safe” and “surprisingly addictive”.
With the number of queens and nests found this year reaching record levels, Jersey Asian Hornet Group co-founder John de Carteret said that professional pest controllers, government officers and existing volunteers were being stretched thin trying to keep up and gave a rallying cry for more Islanders to play their part in keeping the burgeoning invasive insect at bay.
“With only a small group of volunteers engaged in catching, marking, releasing and monitoring Asian Hornets across the Island, we are desperate to recruit new tracking volunteers,” he said.
“We’re not asking people to take nests away or put themselves in danger; in fact, there is far more risk in stumbling upon a nest in your garden,” he said. “Volunteering could simply involve spending some time in the evening looking out for hornets and following them as best you can.”
Mr de Carteret added that tracking had a “surprisingly addictive” quality to it, requiring tenacity and investigative skills.
“We have around 20-30 active volunteers and another 50-60 people who track,” he said. “That might sound like a lot, but nests are island-wide and we’re finding on average five of them a day at the moment.”
Mr de Carteret said that, despite the increasing number of nests – up to 305 recorded so far this year compared to 70 by this time last year – the hornet hunters would never give up.
“If we do, then there would be far more queens in the autumn and more nests next year; their numbers would simply grow exponentially,” he said.
More than 1,370 queens have been recorded in 2025, compared to 266 by this time in 2024.
Mr de Carteret said that new research had revealed that hornets eat thousands of species of insects, including pollinators, and not just honeybees.
The more immediate concern for Islanders, however, was the increasing risk of getting stung, especially as more nests were being found at ground level.
However, new technology could help the Asian Hornet hunters. A Dutch company called Robor Nature has developed a micro-transmitter which can be attached to a hornet and then reused when the nest has been found and the insect recaptured.
Mr de Carteret said funds were being sought to buy this new tracking system.
Anyone who wishes to volunteer as a tracker or perhaps works for an organisation which may wish to contribute funds to help purchase tracking equipment, can email asianhornet@gov.je or call 441633.
These are the same contact details to report a nest.
