12/02/2026
This new page is work in progress.
Abbreviations:
CBK – Conwy Beekeepers
WBKA – Welsh Beekeepers Association
AHAT – Asian Hornet Action team
YLAH – Yellow Legged Asian Hornet
Defra – Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
NBU – National Bee Unit
Associated documents:
Yellow-legged Asian guide – held on CBK website
Yellow legged Asian Hornet method of monitoring – held on CBK website
Asian Hornet verifiers list – maintained on eR2
Trap locations list – maintained on eR2
List of groups engaged with – maintained by the YLAH Coordinator
The WBKA has encouraged beekeeping associations to implement measures to spread
awareness and prepare for the potential spread of YLAH across North Wales. This document
details Conwy Beekeepers plan to spread awareness within its membership, the wider public
and prepare practical measures in the event YLAH arrives in our area.
The response to the Yellow Legged Asian Hornet in the UK is coordinated by the Animal and
Plant Health Agency (APHA), specifically through its National Bee Unit (NBU) and overseen by
Defra.
The CBK Yellow Legged Asian Hornet Action Plan details how we will:
1. Raise Awareness
2. Monitor for the YLAH
3. React to YLAH sightings
4. Coordinate AHAT activity
5. Support following NBU response
1. Raise awareness with beekeepers and public
Conwy Beekeepers has an Asian Hornet Action Team (AHAT) consisting of a YLAH Coordinator
who is registered with the WBKA and additional Verifiers taken from the wider CBK
membership. The AHAT will endeavour to:
a) Promote awareness of Yellow Legged Asian Hornet within the association membership
and public, by means of social media, printed media, formal presentations, and member
workshops.
b) Ensure people know how to report sightings through the Asian Hornet Watch app,
(Android via Google Play or IOS via Apple iTunes) or via the online notification form held
on the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology web site Non-native Alert – Asian Hornet
c) Encourage individuals to ask others to add the app to their phones, such as friends,
relatives, neighbours, work associates, or other local organisations.
d) Respond to sightings of Yellow Legged Asian Hornet and liaise with the National Bee
Unit.
Using formal presentations, YLAH posters, leaflets, and social media posts following national guidelines both on its own Facebook Page and local community pages, Conwy Beekeepers will promote YLAH awareness to the following types of organisations and groups:
Nurseries and garden centres, Fruit and Vegetable wholesalers, Transports hubs, Farming and cattle supplies, Farmers Markets, Conwy Seed & Honey Fairs, Country fairs, Tree surgeons, Specialist equipment suppliers to outdoor trades, Schools, Ramblers and other outdoor groups, Caravan parks, Service stations, WI, Scouts.
Groups such as RSPB, Wildlife Trust, National trust, CADW, Supermarkets etc. may have a national approach to informing their staff and volunteers but CBK will assist in promoting YLAH awareness if requested.
CBK will create and maintain a spreadsheet list of groups engaged with, whilst adhering to its Data Protection Policy.
CBK is mindful that the local authority involvement will follow national guidance provided by Welsh Government. CBK will liaise with local authorities and provide support where it can whilst adhering to those national guidelines.
2. Monitor for yellow-legged Asian Hornet throughout the year
There are areas where the chances of a YLAH incursion are higher. These risk points include:
Ports
Distribution routes from Europe including lorry parks or warehouses
Fruit and vegetable wholesalers
Areas where yellow-legged hornets have previously been located
AHAT can provide help with monitoring, focussing in these at-risk areas where surveillance is especially important. Monitoring stations or selective traps are best placed in sunny areas where they can be observed frequently. They are placed in a location such as:
At home by a window
A place of work
On a regular dog walking route.
Traps and Monitoring
If you wish to set up a monitoring station or trap, please inform your association YLAH
Coordinator who maintains a listing of where monitoring stations/traps are located. It is
important that you monitor regularly.
CBK maintains a list of Asian Hornet verifiers.
The Asian Hornet Action Team email: asianhornet@conwybeekeepers.org.uk
Whilst the NBU will not be actively setting traps in spring (Defra directive published in
December 2025) CBK only encourage the use of selective traps, and open monitoring stations with suitable bait. Traps should always be checked regularly for non-target invertebrates (bycatch) and set up in a way that allows them to escape. Non selective traps kill beneficial insects and are not recommended
For more details on the use of selective traps and monitoring stations for YLAH monitoring, read the YLAH guide and Methods of Monitoring on CBK website. All deployments of monitoring stations or traps, will be subject to the agreement of the property or land owner and be subject to a formal risk assessment.
Yellow Legged Asian Hornet life cycle
As the seasons change, so too does the hornet life cycle and different monitoring activities are appropriate at different times. Detailed explanation of the life cycle is shown on the YLAH guide on the CBK website, and on the internet via sites such as BBKA and NBU.
3. Follow up on confirmed sightings
The National Bee Unit can only follow up on reported sightings via the Asian Watch app or via email that include:
The contact details of the individual making the report
A photograph of the hornet
The location of the sighting.
AHAT may however be contacted by someone wanting help regarding their sighting. It is
important to emphasise the need for a photograph, the NBU will not respond without one. In this instance a monitoring station is advisable. Should a dead specimen be presented to the AHAT member and it is a YLAH, the specimen can be sent to the NBU following the instructions detailed on the NBU Bee Base website APHA – National Bee Unit – BeeBase
Action by AHAT’s allow the NBU teams to focus on tracking flying yellow-legged hornets and destroying nests.
4. AHAT activity
During a response situation, AHAT’s can support the work of the NBU in several ways by
working with the local Bee Inspector to:
Set up & monitor selective traps or monitoring stations
Support beekeepers and members of the public who request help
Record the use of traps and monitoring stations in apiaries on eR2 and BeeBase
Organise additional volunteers to set up monitoring stations and traps in areas of high
risk in additional
Co-ordinate feedback (if required) from monitoring activities, to ensure results are
reported
Attend meetings with the Bee Inspector in areas where yellow-legged hornets have
been located to agree next steps.
5. Support following a contingency response
Once a yellow-legged hornet nest is destroyed, NBU surveillance continues in the area to
determine if other nests are present. Surveillance includes the use of monitoring stations near forage and the sites of nests that have been removed. AHAT’s can extend NBU’s surveillance by monitoring a wider area and for a longer period that NBU staff can provide.
Individuals and nests of yellow-legged hornet found in England and Wales are analysed to
understand their:
Caste: whether it is a queen, drone, or worker
Genetic relation to other hornets found
This information helps to understand the potential risk of unreported nests in an area, or
whether a nest may have released queens into the environment, that may create a nest the
following spring.
Any activity around Yellow Legged Asian Hornet, CBK volunteers must never place themselves in danger, particularly if a nest is found. When assessing a sighting, consider PPE especially ifthere are reports of multiple hornets.
For all enquiries contact Conwy Beekeepers via email: secretary@conwybeekeepers.org.uk