The volunteers using tiny radio tags to find a record number of Asian hornet nests

  • Find out how new technology is being trialled to better track Asian hornets. Image by Christel Sagniez/Pixabay

Following a record year for Asian hornet numbers in Jersey, volunteers are trialling new technology to help them find and track the invasive species.

Over 630 nests have been discovered this season, more than double last year's figure.

They may be small, but keeping the Asian hornet population at bay is a mammoth task.

Our frontline troops? A small but forensic army of volunteers.

The number of Asian hornet nests found across Jersey in the last five years:

Volunteer Chris Isaacs has developed a technique that's halved the time it takes to find a hornet nest.

It involves putting out a bait station to entice the hornets, catching them and then attaching a silver streamer of reflective plastic onto the insects.

"It makes them much easier to see as they fly back to the nests," says Chris, "So it helps with visual tracking."

A long silver streamer attached to the hornets with glue makes it much easier to see them when they fly back to the nests. Credit: ITV Channel
A bait station lures in the hornets. Credit: ITV Channel

Tracking techniques range from the simplistic to the futuristic.

It doesn't come as a surprise that some of the volunteers have a police detective background: the latest equipment being trialled by the group involves effectively 'bugging' the hornets.

A tiny radio tag is attached to the pests, who are then hunted down using detection devices.

A tiny radio is fitted to a hornet. Credit: ITV Channel
These devices are then used by volunteers to track down the hornets. Credit: ITV Channel

"We think it's going to speed things up completely," says fellow volunteer John de Carteret.

"It's been calculated that it was taking 25 hours to find a nest on average. Reportedly, this system will track the nests in about an hour and a half."

But finding nests is only half of the problem.

The hornet group are concerned that cuts to Jersey's Environment Department budget will negatively impact the island's ability to remove nests promptly when they are found.

"I think all the volunteers would like to see the nests destroyed quicker," says John, "We tend to get a bit of a backlog.

"The ground nests are done pretty well immediately, but the tree ones take the time - potentially two to three weeks.

"We certainly don't want to see a lessening of the input from the government financially in controlling the nests."

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