The hibernating hornet was disturbed as folds of hessian sacking that had been wrapped around lengths of anchor chain were removed.
Local beekeeper and hornet hunter Bob Hogge said that, while this incident had preceded the recent spell of warm weather, higher temperatures may now encourage hornets to emerge from hibernation earlier than usual. Mr Hogge has reminded Islanders to be vigilant and to continue to report any sightings.
The number of nests found in the Island has been growing year on year, with 17 found in 2017 and 55 found in 2018. Based on this trend, Mr Hogge estimates that there could be as many as 150 nests in Jersey this year.
‘The problem is, we don’t know how many we will find this year until the end of the season, and 150 nests will be a great challenge,’ he said. ‘If at the end of the year, we have failed to destroy all the known nests, then we have lost the battle. Amelioration of effects will then be our only option. If, on the other hand, the number of nests is notably fewer than 150, we could then conclude that our efforts last year have paid off.’
A report providing further information on Asian hornet activity in Jersey last year is now online at the local Asian Hornet Action Team’s website ahat.org.uk
Mr Hogge said that the Island’s public had played a ‘vital’ role in the collective effort to control Jersey’s Asian hornet population last year, but that continuing to control nests is ‘an expensive thing to do’, which means that there’s a likelihood efforts to do so will eventually stop.
‘Controlling nests is an expensive thing to do, so either we will have to improve how we do it, or how we kill them, which is the most expensive part,’ he said. ‘Eventually, we will probably ask ourselves if it is really worth it, because they are not as dangerous as all that, and we can find the ones that cause concern.’
However, he warned that stopping the control of nests would lead to ‘home-grown queens’, which can produce 200 hornets in a nest, and sometimes, ‘in a very big nest’, up to 500.
‘We do not yet know what the maximum capacity of Jersey is,’ he added. ‘It could be 150 nests, it could be 300, it could be 500 – we do not yet know what that is because we control them.’
The States hosted a British-Irish Council meeting in September to discuss management of Asian hornets with other member jurisdictions.
The States director of natural environment, Willie Peggie, said at the time that eradicating the species from Jersey was an unrealistic aim.
‘We have to accept that the eradication of Asian hornets is not a realistic goal, as Jersey is most likely to be re-invaded by queen hornets from France each spring,’ he said.
It is understood that an announcement will be made shortly concerning further States plans regarding the management of Asian hornets.
