The Division for Setting, Meals and Rural Affairs (Defra) is being disingenuous when it says that the Asian hornet poses no better danger to human well being than different wasps or hornets (Sharp rise in Asian hornet sightings in UK causes alarm, 17 August). It’s a very aggressive insect that defends its nest with terrifying ferocity when it’s disturbed, inflicting a number of stings that may result in hospitalisation and typically loss of life.
Neither is it correct to say that nests are smaller at the moment of yr. Quite the opposite, now’s when the nest is at its greatest and most populous, having constructed up through the summer time. Defra’s declare to have the ability to swiftly and effectively stamp the insect out is questionable. Groups are near breaking level as a result of lack of personnel and assets. With the expansion of the Asian hornet inhabitants now established, they are going to quickly be overwhelmed.
The shortage of realism on the a part of the federal government and the absence of a critical and viable contingency plan depart Britain at risk of dropping management of this invasion.
Alan Baxter
Asian hornet coordinator, Hampshire Beekeepers’ Affiliation