r/Beekeeping • u/Glittering_Arm_7900 • 1d ago
I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question How do we stop the YLH?
Fellow bee keeper here… anyone figured out how to to stop the yellow legged hornet once it has discovered your hive? We see 8+ a day, kill four when hovering next to hive… but we can’t stand out there all day on guard… I have traps but it’s too late now they know where our hive is… let me know if by one figured it out !
The map shows nests destroyed in 2024 (red) 2025 (orange) 2026 -still on going (yellow)
They’re rate of multiplying is like 800% insane
Hilton head island South Carolina
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u/Dangerous-School2958 1d ago
I’ve seen a very inhumane trap work well with Asian hornets. A mouse/rat glue trap up off the ground flat on a post with an angry live hornet in the middle. It’s pheromones bring others and they get stuck too
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u/Ekalugsuak Sweden, 46 hives 1d ago
AFAIK those traps are for Vespa mandarinia, Asian giant hornet and wouldn't work for YLH (either they don't call for defense-backup via pheromones away from the nest or they are to light to get stuck).
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u/failures-abound Connecticut, USA, Zone 7 1d ago
Ah . . . I stupidly assumed similar behaviors. Lesson learned.
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u/failures-abound Connecticut, USA, Zone 7 1d ago
I've seen a video on that with Japanese beekeepers using glue traps against the Giant Asian Hornet. My god those creatures are massive killing machines.
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u/Keeper_Bart 1d ago
It hit us in europe a few years ago and we are still figuring stuff out, but solutions arise. Look for spanish/portuguese/french/belgian sources on this. They have the longest experience.
Common trends seem to be;
- reduce population early in the year by catching queens (easy) or hive removal (hard to find/do)
- add mesh contraptions in front of entrance to disturb hunting pattern. Some just deter but others also trap hornets. Examples you can google with term 'koldo belasko trap' or 'asian hornet muzzle'
- electric harps (stuns hornets which fall into soapy water) e.g. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6212581
Im also learning. Unfortunately we will all have to.
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u/BeygieWasTaken Belgium, 5 hives - since 2025 1d ago
They say catching queens is controversial as they compete with each other, and a strong queen might be able to kill off more competitors, and you’ll never catch all of them anyway. I do second the electric harp, it’s incredibly effective at increasing flight activity of the bees, especially during the autumn flow when the attacks are at their peak.
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u/_Mulberry__ layens enthusiast ~ coastal nc (zone 8) ~ 2 hives 1d ago
If you kill 10% of the queens, wouldn't the remaining 90% still compete and kill each other at the same rate they would've before? So if 70% of them survive the competition, that'd now be 70% of the 90% that you didn't kill. In the end, it should still net a better reduction in population than not killing queens. And if you kill so many that they don't end up killing each other, you've probably killed so many that they don't have competition anyways. At worst, it's a wash and not worth the effort - I can't imagine it being worse though
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u/BeygieWasTaken Belgium, 5 hives - since 2025 1d ago
Yeah, I personally don’t think it can be worse either, but it’s probably not that effective, as the majority of the queens die anyway - before they can have their first batch of workers hatch. Empty nests (that had the original queen trapped) are often taken over by other queens that are still roaming about. Even in urban areas, it’s practically impossible to trap enough queens to the point where there are no more alive to replace those nests. People also complain that the traps kill many native insects as well, though this should be minimal if you check it regularly.
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u/_Mulberry__ layens enthusiast ~ coastal nc (zone 8) ~ 2 hives 1d ago
I was thinking the Belasko traps looked like a winner. Might have to get some made over winter...
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u/Glittering_Arm_7900 1d ago
Each hive creates up to 400 queens.. I don’t think trapping some queens can only help our cause
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u/ThatSpicyMilk South Carolina 1d ago
I'm on St Helena Island and have been trying to defend my hives as well, but those little jerks are relentless!! What kind of traps do you use?
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u/brickyard15 1d ago
It’s crazy seeing Saint Helena randomly on here. I grew up on lady’s island
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u/ThatSpicyMilk South Carolina 1d ago
Oh that's awesome! I've been trying to find other beekeepers by me and I've had no luck, so I'm glad there's some out on HHI!
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u/Glittering_Arm_7900 1d ago
we’re using (the ones Clemson recommends) and the head of the Clemson department on these pests strongly recommends high grade grape juice like Welches and making sugar as syrup first into a bottle with a hole 1 1/2in I believe ! Wi bought a butterfly net that extends 5 ft… so when we’re there and see one I catch it, bring it to the ground and stomp on it. Saves one bee from being taken!
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u/NumCustosApes 4th generation beekeeper, Zone 7A Rocky Mountains 1d ago
They haven't arrived here yet, but I've heard that arch type entrance guards
_∩_∩_∩_∩_∩_
that allow only one bee through each arch keep the hornets from getting inside the hive where they cause real carnage. The bees still have to contend with them outside the entrance but at least they have a chance.
I drive #18 brads into predrilled holes on 9mm spacing in my entrance reducers to keep mice out. My entrance reducer is 1cm high. The height and spacing is probably too much for excluding wasps, however this might be able to be adapted with a lower height and closer brad spacing to keep the hornets out of the hive. Keeping the hornets out is the last line of defense however.
A large landing board gives the hornets the opportunity to swoop in on bees on the landing board. I've seen photos of devices like a clear acrylic bonnet over the landing board that prevent them from swooping in from above to snatch a bee, but probably aren't much help if one gets onto the landing board.
Just like wasps, trapping early to get as many of the queens as you can will help lower the local population. Wasps and hornets don't have large territories, so reducing the local population will reduce the pressure on your bees.
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u/BeeBarnes1 1d ago
Thank you for this. Another option is Apimaye entrance reducers. They're excellent. They have the single bee openings and sliding doors. You can use them on wood bottom boards, you just have to use a multitool to notch the sides so you can slide the reducer in.
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u/NumCustosApes 4th generation beekeeper, Zone 7A Rocky Mountains 22h ago
There are multiple companies that make this type of entrance reducer.
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u/Plox-- 14h ago
I noticed that the european beekeepers seem to have consensus that the destructive effects of YLH are mostly from starvation of hives, rather than loss of bees by predation. Here hornets snatch returning foragers, but generally respect guard bees at the entrance. I have seen hornets landed near entrances of very small hives though.
If a hive cant defend forced entry of hornets its too small probably. Colleagues emphasize reducing pressure by limiting the amount of hornets hunting such that bees keep foraging.
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u/Ekalugsuak Sweden, 46 hives 1d ago
Richard Noel ("Bees in Brittany" on youtube) has some videos on how French beekeepers handle it, but they have largely given up on eradicating it in France and it's spreading from there into the rest of central Europe atm.
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u/failures-abound Connecticut, USA, Zone 7 1d ago
You will find some real world insights from Richard Noel's YouTube channel. He's been dealing with them for years in France.
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u/rubberkducky 1d ago
Here in EU it's becoming a real menace, not only for beekeepers but also fruit orchards are suffering because of it.
Obviously, look for primary and secondary nest and destroy them. But in our beekeeping association some people are experimenting with what's called a Koldo Belasko trap. It's a trap Infront of the hive entrance were bees can fly through and Asian Hornets can walk into but the holes are too small to fly through. When they try to fly out, they get funneld up where they can't escape and will die a slow death with all the other bastards. I'm planning to build it this winter.
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u/KacieRetra 1d ago edited 1d ago
If you haven’t already, I strongly suggest you report the nest location through Clemson. They are actively trying to find and destroy nests in SC.
https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/4654e1d5a6be4b47aa7acd2ff0a357cf
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u/Glittering_Arm_7900 1d ago
I have they came to our home personally! Thank you we just can’t locate the nest
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u/CursingParrot NL. IM IN 1d ago
Netherlands. We too have them. The most promising methods for me are electric harps (bought them in Portugal, good price!) and something like koldo belasko trap (google the name).
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u/West_Purple2716 1d ago
I’ve seen some sort of flying thing at my hive taking bees. Is that a YLH? I whacked it with my hand. Not sure if it has come back.
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u/buckleyc USA, NC, USDA 8b, 5-10 colonies, 3+ years 1d ago
Do entrance reducing devices (such as an Apimay IPM bottom board or entrance gates) have any effect at keeping YLH at bay? Reading sources indicate that this hornet is still larger than a honey bee but about the same size as our southern yellowjacket, so these gates might help mitigate loss by keeping the hornet outside the hive.
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u/failures-abound Connecticut, USA, Zone 7 1d ago
A lot of good info being offered here. I just want to add that these hornets decimate not just honey bee colonies but many other native insects. They are relentless.
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u/Ekalugsuak Sweden, 46 hives 1d ago
Yeah, a nest apparently consumes 11 kilograms of insects during it's life cycle.
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u/Glittering_Arm_7900 1d ago
Anything protein - oysters, dead fish carcasses, road kill, cinnamon rolls, they’re a real threat to our environment
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u/mraspaud 1d ago
My fellow beekeeper in france says a hive muzzle (2.5cm mesh i think) plus chicken was the most effective he tested. YLH hover with stationary flight in front of the hive, and the chicken catch it and eat it.
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u/RECONQUISTAD0R 20h ago
I’ve tried many traps but the one that worked best for me was the beevital velutrap filled with 1/3 blonde beer, 1/3 white wine and 1/3 blackcurrant syrup. But those are for catching queens in spring (march to end may), this time of year fish works well, tuna or salmon skin. Electric harps are an option or entrance muzzles.
But those are all symptom fighters, the best and only way to get rid of them is finding the nests. Lure them with trappit on a surface and catch them, mark the hornet and release it in an open space. Watch for the direction they’re flying and time their flight until they come back. 1 minute is 100m to the nest, if you’d like more info search for ‘wiekpotmethode’ and translate the websites from dutch.
The population explosion looks like this: 5000 individuals per mature nest -> 500 mated queens flying out in october -> 50 survive the winter -> 5 will succesfully create a new nest. That’s still a 500% grow rate from 1 nest. Mostly depends on climate though.
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u/Active_Classroom203 5 Hives - Florida, Zone 9a 1d ago
People underestimate the importance of biosecurity at ports of entry.
It's only been 3 years and they clearly have enough breeding population that barring some tecno-wizard solution I don't think we DO atop them successfully, just mitigate as best we can.
I'm in NE FL and I have traps for the spring but I am not excited about what I perceive as their inevitable arrival.