Sussex-based bee specialists have contributed to New Zealand’s efforts to combat an invasion of yellow-legged hornets.

Scientists from the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit made the journey to New Zealand to offer guidance to Biosecurity New Zealand operatives on methods for locating and eliminating the hornets.

The yellow-legged hornet, referred to interchangeably as the Asian hornet, represents a significant danger to honey bees and additional pollinating species.

Dan Etheridge, who directed the teams pursuing hornets in Kent and Sussex, spent more than four weeks in New Zealand imparting crucial field expertise and instructing personnel in radio tracking procedures.

An APHA representative explained that the agency’s methods are grounded in scientific research, with tracking approaches developed and enhanced over time through an internally created mapping application and commercially accessible technology.

The radio tracking devices currently employed became accessible only in 2025, meaning that elimination operations between 2016 and 2024 were conducted without this equipment.

While these radio trackers are not deployed in every situation, they have substantially improved the yellow-legged hornet response and maximised the efficient use of resources, which can be drawn from across APHA as necessary.

Etheridge instructed the New Zealand personnel on methods for pinpointing probable nest sites through established tracking approaches and the correct procedure for securing radio transmitters to female hornets.

These devices enable inspectors to pursue the hornet across distances reaching 0.6 miles (1km) in the expectation that she will guide them back to her colony.

The initial appearances of yellow-legged hornets in New Zealand occurred at the conclusion of June the previous year, when two male specimens were observed in Auckland.

Queens did not begin emerging until mid-October the same year.

A solitary hornet nest has the capacity to devour up to 11kg of insects throughout a single season, demonstrating the considerable threat to bee colonies.

Scott Sinclair from Biosecurity New Zealand informed the BBC that New Zealand approached Britain because of its commitment to active eradication.

He characterised the British inspectors’ skills and guidance as amazing and noted that the instruction had made a real difference to their operations.

Upon completion of New Zealand’s nesting period, in excess of 130 hornet nests had been discovered and eliminated, with roughly 75 per cent located through radio tracking.

During the previous year, Britain’s National Bee Unit identified and destroyed a record 163 yellow-legged hornet nests.

The majority of these were situated in Kent and Sussex.