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Invasive Species Week
Invasive Species Week
We are asking as many people as possible and not just beekeepers, look out for Yellow Legged Hornets during the last week of June, as part of the Invasive Species Week. (BBKA have some great resources available for schools to help educate children about Invasive Species https://www.bbka.org.uk/News/invasive-species-week Teachers can sign up there, please pass on the link to any teachers you know!).
Monitoring couldn’t be simpler, just watch any source of sugar or nectar for around an hour or so, and report using the eR2 YLH monitoring App as we did in previous years. If you don’t have the app then please contact your branch YLH coordinator email with the location you will be monitoring, postcode or what3words, and they can allocate the area to you and provide a link to the App.
Report the monitoring activity, date and time. Nil results are important, so we can build a historical database of monitoring activity.
Many people are putting the monitoring station on a kitchen windowsill or somewhere in the garden whilst gardening etc. Once a YLH finds a food source it will return on a regular basis, timings depend on how long it feeds for and the distance to its colony.
For reporting an actual sighting, or wish to confirm if something might be a YLH then use the government Asian Hornet watch app to your phone,
available in the Google play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.ac.ceh.hornets&hl=en_GB
or Apple App Store
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/asian-hornet-watch/id1161238813
Best to download this in advance of the monitoring week or any potential sighting.
We would like to coordinate the monitoring, to try to cover a large an area as possible. The end of June timing is critical as the YLH’s should be shifting from the small primary nests to the larger secondary nests and will be foraging for sweet sugar sources.
Monitoring can range from just an open dish, however as the bait evaporates quickly many people use a simple wick station, as described in the NBU leaflet below.
Traps can be used, however be careful to avoid killing bycatch. Open monitoring is a better solution if possible as there are reports that traps aren’t terribly effective this early in the season, with less than 40% YLHs entering them.
The some branches are making commercially available bait which can be collected at the apiary sessions, but you can make your own bait, most recipes are a mix of blackcurrent juice and alcohol, wine and beer to discourage honeybees.
There have been 27 YLH sightings so far this year, mainly in the south, and whilst there have been no reports so far in Lancashire, we need to remain vigilant, as there were YLH nests found and destroyed in Yorkshire and Cheshire in 2025.
https://www.nationalbeeunit.com/about-us/beekeeping-news/yellow-legged-hornet-2025-rolling-update-2
Clearly, if you wish to continue to monitor for more than the last week in June please continue to record your monitoring results in the App.
Dave Heaton is our Branch Coordinator, if you need any assistance or further information.
Yellow-legged Hornet » APHA - National Bee Unit - BeeBase
Reports should be sent in via the Asian Hornet Watch app or the online recording form using the links below:
However, you can also email if you have a sighting. Please send a photograph and location details to:
We have co-ordinator for our Branch and they will keep us updated with the latest news.
Do not under any circumstances disturb or provoke an active hornets’ nest.
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