Country on high alert after Asian Hornet sighting

The National Parks and Wildlife Service confirmed a sighting and capture of an Asian Hornet in Cork, which prompted a nationwide biosecurity alert for the country.

The Asian Hornet can cause serious harm to our honeybee population, as just one of their nests can devastate local bees.

The threat is so significant that the government has established a task force called The Asian Hornet Management Group, with many state bodies, including the Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, coming together.

Often, though, the European Hornet can be mixed up with the Asian Hornet, and the former is not a problem in Ireland.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner on Thursday, Tom McDonnell of Killucan Honey spoke of how they are prepared for this threat: “We have been preparing for this day for some time now with different beekeeping organisations and task forces, and we have a planned and prepared response to deal with it.

“We have been fully prepared by NUIG through the Apis Science Diploma, which had a speaker from Jersey giving us a presentation on the battles they face, and unfortunately, the hornet is winning easily.”

Across the ports, there have been sentry beehives set up for some time now to check for the Asian Hornet, and specific traps for them have been deployed in Ireland.