Nigel Semmence Asian hornet - current situation in UK in 2024

From a background in beekeeping, in 2009 Nigel joined the National Bee Unit (NBU) as Regional Bee Inspector (RBI) for Southern region running a team of seven Seasonal Bee Inspectors (SBIs). In 2015 he became the Contingency Planning and Science Officer (CP&SO) for the NBU with responsibility for developing contingency plans for exotic pests and diseases of honeybees such as the Asian hornet, Small hive beetle and Tropilaelaps mites. This was just in time for the first Asian hornet incursion in 2016 and the NBU has learnt much since then on how to deal with Asian hornets as well as how to run contingency responses.
Nigel updates us from last year, covering a summary of the current response as well as details about what to expect from the ongoing science being conducted by Fera Science Ltd on behalf of Defra.