2024 has seen a record number of Asian hornets reported in western Switzerland, a new report from RTS has revealed. Experts say 2025 will be a decisive year, adding that it is now likely impossible to eradicate the invasive species.
According to RTS, approximately 400 Asian hornet nests have been destroyed in French-speaking cantons in 2024 so far, a record number that is expected to increase before winter brings their spread to a close. The number of cases has soared in recent years - in 2021, only two hornet nests were destroyed.
Most cases were reported in Geneva at 182 nests, followed by Vaud (110). There is evidence to suggest that the hornets have spread even further, with Cantons Fribourg and Valais reporting their first cases this year. Some Asian hornets have been detected as far east as Zurich.
After allegedly coming to Europe in a shipment of Chinese pottery in 2004, the Asian hornet has spread quickly across the continent - in France where the insect first spread, there are now an estimated 500.000 nests. Self-sustaining colonies of the insects have also been detected in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium and of course Switzerland.
Though they are smaller than European hornets, the Asian hornet has a huge impact on wildlife in Switzerland, especially the bee population. A French study from 2020 found that a nest of Asian hornets consumes 11,3 kilograms of insects every summer. One hornet on its own can eat 50 honey bees a day. In addition, the presence of hornets can force honey bees into hiding, meaning they don’t gather enough pollen and nectar to survive the winter months.
"Very clearly, we are no longer at the stage of eradication, but of reasoned control," noted University of Lausanne honorary professor Daniel Chérix. He predicted that 2025 will be “decisive” as to whether the hornet will become endemic in Switzerland.
Amélie Héritier, from the Vaud Society of Apiculturists, said that “a lot of money is in the fight” to protect bees, with the organisation training specialists to handle the hornets. However, they “would really like to have outside help and for professionals to track down the nests,” she continued - currently, local councils say that controlling the species’ spread should be done by beekeepers.
Writing to RTS, the government of Canton Vaud said that it was “considering measures that would allow them to be supported in the future in order to relieve the work of volunteers as much as possible." However, several cantonal officials told the broadcaster that more money and staff will be needed to be made available to truly control the crisis.