Mairead Love, a wildlife expert from West Cork, has given her take on the Asian hornet’s appearance in Ireland, saying that she wants to set the record straight on false information circulating on social media about the species.

Mairead, who founded Fastnet Beekeepers Association with her husband Michael six years ago, said the species was considered a threat to biodiversity, particularly to native pollinators such as honeybees. But, she stressed the hornet did not pose a significant public health risk yet.

‘There’s nothing to get worried or alarmed about’ said Mairead. ‘The Asian hornet is not going to attack people, unless you decide to disturb a nest of them’.

‘Still, it’s important that we get this under control because the hornets can affect our honeybee population and our crops, among other things.’

She is appealing to people to report any sightings of the yellow-legged Asian hornet to the National Biodiversity Data Centre, along with a picture.

‘The queens are about three centimetres in length. Their chest and their abdomen are nearly all black, except for a bright yellow segment near the end of the tail. Their heads are bright in colour.’

Mairead is currently on Jersey Island on a fact-finding mission to find out more on how to handle the yellow-legged Asian hornet, which has been in Jersey for a number of years after coming to the island from France.

The first confirmed Asian hornet nest in Ireland was removed from the garden of a house in Cork city earlier in September, prompting a coordinated response by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and partners.

A second, smaller nest has since been confirmed in Cobh, about 10 kilometres from the first.

It was found using electronic tracking technology, and it has also been removed.

A taskforce, the Asian Hornet Management Group, has been established to monitor the situation and coordinate containment efforts.

Mairead added that people like her were working with the government on this, ‘and there are a lot of us behind the scenes trying to get this under control’.

‘We are getting some Asian hornet traps this week, and our 80 members are going out and monitoring the situation’.

Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Clonakilty-based Christopher O’Sullivan TD, said that each incident ‘is taken very seriously and investigated thoroughly when reported.’

The public are urged to report any sightings of Asian hornets, along with a photograph to the National Biodiversity Data Centre.

Fastnet Beekeepers Association is based on the Mizen peninsula, with a training apiary in Schull.

For more information, visit the Fastnet Beekeepers Association website.