BeeBase News
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Yellow-legged hornet 2026 rolling update
Please report sightings of Yellow-legged hornets (YLH), also known as Asian hornets, on this online form or download the free Asian hornet Watch app for Apple devices or android devices.
As of 27/08/2026:
To view the location of destroyed nests, please visit the map page and choose the Asian Hornet map layer.
157 credible yellow-legged hornet sightings have been reported in the UK in 2026.
49 nest have been found:
# Grid Ref Location County Type Date Found Notes/Links to images 1 SK36 Chesterfield Derbyshire Embryo 26/04/2026 Link to image 2 TQ64 Matfield Kent Primary 1/6/2026 3 TR34 Whitfield Kent Primary 17/6/2026 4 SU40 Hythe Hampshire Primary 26/6/2026 Link to image 5 SU40 Hythe Hampshire Secondary 26/6/2026 Link to image 6 TQ52 Heathfield East Sussex Primary 29/6/2026 Link to image 7 SU31 Millbrook Hampshire Primary 3/7/2026 8 TR36 Ramsgate Kent Primary 9/7/2026 9 TR04 Byways Kent Primary 9/7/2026 10 TQ94 Pluckley Kent Primary 14/7/2026 11 SU32 Millbrook Hampshire Secondary 16/7/2026 12 TR15 Nackington Kent Secondary 17/7/2026 13 TG22 Burgh Norfolk Secondary 20/7/2026 14 TQ15 Little Bookham Surrey Secondary 22/7/2026 15 TR25 Nonington Kent Secondary 22/7/2026 Link to image 16 TR25 Nonington Kent Primary 22/7/2026 17 TR24 River Kent Primary 27/7/2026 18 SU84 Farnham Surrey Secondary 27/7/2026 19 TQ16 Sunbury Surrey Secondary 28/7/2026 20 TQ15 Pignut Wood Surrey Secondary 29/7/2026 21 TR04 Wye College Kent Primary 29/7/2026 Link to image 22 SU40 Hythe Hampshire Secondary 1/8/2026 23 TQ52 Heathfield 2 East Sussex Secondary 4/8/2026 24 TR25 Goodnestone Kent Secondary 4/8/2026 25 TQ54 Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent Secondary 6/8/2026 26 TR35 Buttsole Kent Secondary 6/8/2026 27 TQ54 Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent Primary 6/8/2026 Nest in bird box Link to image 28 TQ94 Great Chart, Ashford Kent Primary 6/8/2026 29 TQ94 Great Chart, Ashford Kent Secondary 6/8/2026 30 TR36 Ramsgate Kent Secondary 7/8/2026 31 TQ35 Bletchingley Surrey Secondary 9/8/2026 Link to image 32 TR24 Wooton Kent Secondary 10/8/2026 Link to image 33 TR24 Elm's Vale Kent Secondary 12/8/2026 Link to image 34 TR04 Wye Kent Secondary 15/8/2026 Link to image 35 TR15 Petham Kent Primary 17/8/2026 Link to image 36 SY58 Littlebredy Dorset Secondary 18/8/2026 37 TR36 Ramsgate Kent Primary 18/8/2026 Link to image Link to image 38 SU32 Romsey Hampshire Secondary 18/8/2026 39 TQ85 Hollingbourne Kent Secondary 19/8/2026 40 TQ96 Sittingbourne Kent Secondary 19/8/2026 Link to image 41 SD90 Chadderton Greater Manchester Secondary 19/8/2026 42 TR13 Seabrook Kent Primary 21/08/2026 43 SU40 Newtown Hampshire Secondary 22/08/2026 Link to image 44 TR23 Capel-le-Ferne Kent Secondary 23/08/2026 Link to image 45 TR03 Ashford Kent Secondary 23/08/2026 46 TR23 Crabble Kent Secondary 23/08/2026 47 TA11 Immingham Lincolnshire Primary 25/08/2026 Link to image 48 TR15 Petham Kent Secondary 26/08/2026 Link to image 49 TR04 Byways Kent Secondary 26/08/2026 Yellow-legged hornet location information in England and Wales from January 2026 to June 2026.
# Grid Ref: Location County Type Date initial sighting Reported by Links to images / Notes 1 SE60 Doncaster South Yorkshire Sighting 24/02/2026 Member of the public No sample 2 TL27 Sawtry Cambridgeshire Sighting 13/03/2026 Member of the public 3 TR25 Nonington Kent Sighting 08/04/2026 Beekeeper Link to image 4 TR24 Densole Kent Sighting 08/04/2026 Member of the public Found in outbuilding Link to image 5 TQ35 Oxted Surrey Sighting 09/04/2026 Member of the public Alive in house 6 TR15 Kingston Kent Sighting 11/04/2026 Member of the public Link to image 7 TR25 Nonington Kent Sighting 11/04/2026 Beekeeper Caught in trap Link to image 8 TR35 Sandwich Kent Sighting 10//04/2026 Member of the public 9 SK36 Chesterfield Derbyshire Embryo nest 26/04/2026 Member of the public Link to image Link to image 10 SU31 Southampton Hampshire Sighting 27/04/2026 Member of the public Flew from conservatory 11 SK32 Repton South Derbyshire Sighting 27/04/2026 Member of the public Insect intercepted 12 SK52 Sutton Bonnington Nottinghamshire Sighting 27/04/2026 Member of the public Insect intercepted 13 SU41 Southampton Hampshire Sighting 28/04/2026 Member of the public Flew away 14 TQ93 Leigh Green Kent Sighting 30/04/2026 Member of the public Insect intercepted in house 15 TR24 Coldred Kent Sighting 01/5/2026 Member of the public Insect intercepted in shed 16 TR24 Densole Kent Sighting 03/5/2026 Member of the public Flew into garage 17 TR23 Folkestone Kent Sighting 04/05/2026 Member of the public 18 SY99 Lytchett Minster and Upton Dorset Sighting 10/05/2026 Member of the public Insect intercepted in house 19 TQ84 Maidstone Kent Sighting 17/05/2026 Member of the public Insect intercepted in conservatory 20 SU31 Shirley, Southampton Hampshire Sighting 22/05/2026 Member of the public 21 TR02 New Romney Kent Sighting 22/05/2026 Member of the public 22 TQ94 Charing, Ashford Kent Sighting 24/05/2026 Member of the public 23 TQ82 Peasmarsh East Sussex Sighting 27/05/2026 Member of the public Intercepted in house 24 TQ81 Broadland Row East Sussex Sighting 27/05/2026 Beekeeper Caught in trap 25 TQ30 Brighton and Hove East Sussex sighting 01/06/2026 Member of the public 26 TR03 Ashford Kent Sighting 31/05/2026 Member of the public 27 TQ64 Tunbridge Wells Kent Sighting 01/06/2026 Member of the public 28 TR23 Folkestone Kent Sighting 08/06/2026 Beekeeper 29 TQ72 Robertsbridge East Sussex Sighting 09/06/2026 Member of the public 30 TQ94 Pluckley Kent Sighting 13/06/2026 Beekeeper 31 TR34 Whitfield, Dover Kent Nest 13/06/2026 Member of the public 32 SU31 Southampton Hampshire Sighting/Nest 19/06/2026 Member of the public Multiple hornets in an industrial unit. Nest in bird box. Link to image. Link to image 33 SU40 Dibden Purlieu Hampshire Primary nest 23/06/2026 Member of the public Nest in bird box Link to image 34 TQ52 Heathfield East Sussex Nest 25/06/2026 Member of the public Nest in bird box Link to file 35 TQ16 Sunbury-on-Thames Surrey Single hornet 05/07/2026 Beekeeper Intercepted in garden 36 TR36 Ramsgare Kent Nest 04/07/2026 Member of the public In shed 37 TR04 Ashford Kent Sighting 09/07/2026 Member of the public 38 TR04 Ashford Kent Nest 09/07/2026 Member of the public Bird box 39 TR24 Wootton Kent Single hornet 12/07/2026 Beekeeper Intercepted in hive 40 TR15 Nackington Kent Single hornet 11/07/2026 Member of the public Intercepted in garden 41 TR25 Godnestone Kent Single hornet 11/07/2026 Member of the public Intercepted in house 42 TR36 Ramsgate (2) Kent Single hornet 14/07/2026 Beekeeper Caught in trap -
Yellow-legged hornet 2025 nest genetic analysis
Given the large number of nests found in 2025 (163), it was not feasible to complete the genetic analysis undertaken in previous years.
Instead, Defra commissioned research using an alternative genetic method, to look at relatedness between the nests found in 2025. This method used far more genetic information per hornet (a panel of some 160 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms), but with fewer samples per nest. This gave a different type of information to previous years, with greater detail about how pairs of nests were related (including whether nests were cousins to each other). However, it did not include, in-depth investigations of the life stages present in each nest or analysis of whether a nest was offspring of a nest in 2024.
An overall conclusion from this is that all nests showed some degree of kinship to each other, as might be expected from the relatively recent origin of the European Yellow-Legged Hornet (YLH) population. Notably, some nests were far more related to each other (up to 26 potential cousin relationships to other nests) than others (only one or two potential cousin relationships to other nests). Thenests which were more related to each other likely reflect UK resident breeding by YLH, including hitchhiking events/ internal movements with human transport within the UK, while the nests which were less related to each other likely reflect continuing arrival of queens from continental Europe that were able to establish nests.
The map given below shows the numbers of cousin relationships each nest had with other UK 2025 nests, where larger circles reflect nests with greater numbers of relationships than smaller ones (see key). Only a sub-set of nests are shown. As can be seen from the map, it is likely that both breeding in the UK and continuing arrivals from abroad were occurring. Results from microsatellite analysis of YLH nests destroyed before 1st October, 2025 showed that all analysed hornets were from the European YLH population and not arrivals from elsewhere. This is consistent with what was seen in previous years.
Map of Yellow-legged hornet nest connectivity 2025
Notes on methods:
The previously used analyses used a small number (15) of microsatellite markers in the nuclear genome, as described in Jones et al 2020 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-76690-2.
The current project used a large panel of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) developed by a PhD student at Fera Science and Newcastle University (thesis unpublished).
Further information here on Historic UK Yellow-Legged Hornet Incursions » APHA - National Bee Unit - BeeBase
If you believe you have seen a yellow-legged hornet, please report it. You can report your sighting by:
• Using the Asian Hornet Watch app for iPhone or app for android
• Filling in the online recording form
• Emailing alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk -
Support for Weekend Events
APHA's National Bee Unit recognise the important role that weekend events play in supporting training, engagement, and education across our primarily hobbyist sector and we are committed to working constructively with partners and stakeholders to maximise the value and impact of these opportunities wherever possible. However, our organisation operates within a workforce model designed to deliver core services across a standard working week. Like many public sector bodies, we must balance finite resources against a wide range of statutory responsibilities and operational priorities. This inevitably limits our capacity to routinely support out-of-hours and weekend activity at scale.
Where we are able to contribute to weekend events, this is considered carefully on a case-by-case basis, taking into account operational pressures, value for money, and the potential benefits to our strategic objectives. In many instances, our resources must remain focused on critical front-line services and essential functions.
We fully recognise that this can be disappointing to organisers and stakeholders but remain committed to working collaboratively to explore alternative ways of supporting engagement that are sustainable and effective including strengthening our focus on provision of high-quality training support materials and digital resources. These approaches can often deliver broader and longer-lasting impact than individual event attendance alone.
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Husbandry Survey 2026
A randomised sample of beekeepers registered on BeeBase will shortly be contacted via email and asked to complete a short survey.
Beekeepers are selected at random and reflect the overall proportion of hobbyist and commercial beekeepers registered on BeeBase in England and Wales. Only beekeepers who are subscribed to email updates and listed as ‘current’ will be contacted. Please note: due to the lead time required to deploy the survey, beekeepers who have amended their status in the previous month may still be contacted.
Monitoring husbandry practices and colony losses provides important information on the health of our honeybee population. Answers will be of great value monitoring UK beekeeping practices and to help target beekeeper training. Answers provided may also be used in future research.
Summaries and reports of previous year’s results can be found here: NBU surveys » APHA - National Bee Unit - BeeBase
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Update on small hive beetle in Italy
On the 8th June 2026, Aethina tumida (small hive beetle) was confirmed in an apiary in the province of Latina, Lazio region, central Italy. This represents a new detection outside the previously affected areas of southern Italy.
Surveillance data show one positive apiary in Latina, and a positive sentinel apiary reported in Sicily. Ongoing monitoring continues in affected regions.
The new location is more than 400 km from the original established area of infestation in Calabria, as shown in this map from the Italian authorities. This indicates a significant geographical jump and suggests long-distance movement rather than natural spread.
Italian authorities have initiated control measures in line with EU requirements, including enhanced surveillance in the surrounding area and restrictions on the movement of bees and beekeeping equipment.
The UK has suspended the import of bees, apiculture products and used beekeeping equipment into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) from the regions of Lazio, in addition to those measures already in place for Sicily and Calabria. These special measures apply to Lazio, Italy from 13 June 2026 and will continue to apply until they are revoked or amended: for further details, please see the GOV.UK guidance.
Beekeepers are reminded of the importance of maintaining good biosecurity and remaining vigilant for signs of small hive beetle, particularly when sourcing bees or equipment. Further information about SHB is available on BeeBase.
