Scientists develop alert system to warn beekeepers of invasive hornets
Hopes have been raised that Britain's honeybees can be better protected following the development of a new system to remotely detect the presence of invasive hornets.
Scientists from Nottingham Trent University say they can identify the flight hovering sounds of Asian hornets using inexpensive microphones and an algorithm trained to differentiate between noise from the insects and background sounds – including from honeybees.
The researchers also found that hornets tend to hover continuously around hives, whereas honeybees do so for much shorter periods while flying in and out of the structures.
The Asian hornet, also known as the yellow-legged hornet, is a non-native predator that feeds on honeybees, hovering outside hives for long periods until they catch and eat a bee. They can kill up to 50 a day.
It is hoped the new system could be left in apiaries and allow beekeepers to be immediately alerted to the presence of even just one hornet via their smartphone, giving them the opportunity to take swift action.
The researchers, working with scientists from the University of Coimbra in Portugal and Ghent University in Belgium, said they were able to detect the presence of Asian hornets at an apiary at the Portugese university with almost 100 per cent accuracy over three seasons.
Asian hornets 'a significant threat'
The Asian hornet is native to Southeast Asia but is thought to have arrived in France in a cargo of pottery from China about 20 years ago. The insects have since spread rapidly across Europe.
The species was first seen in the UK in 2016 and there have been regular sightings since, including 44 confirmed in 2024 – largely in Kent and East Sussex – although a rapid response approach to destroy the hornets and their nests has stopped them spreading in Britain.
Dr Harriet Hall, the lead researcher, said: 'Invasive species such as the Asian hornet are a serious threat to biodiversity. Our native honeybee hasn't evolved alongside this predator and because of this its defences against the hornet are low.
'Identifying Asian hornet presence at apiaries early on would be highly beneficial for beekeepers who could then take immediate action.'
Dr Martin Bencsik, from Nottingham Trent University, added: 'Asian hornets are a significant threat to European honeybees and we need to find new ways to identify their presence quickly.
'In spite of overlapping features of the sound spectra of honeybees and hornets, it is amazing to see that their hovering sound features are very different, and it is fortunate, for this detection technique, that hornets hover around hives far more than bees do.'
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