Georgia steps up its hunt for invasive yellow-legged hornets
AUGUSTA, Ga. - The Georgia Department of Agriculture is ramping up its efforts to exterminate an invasive pest, the yellow-legged hornet.
“We are very seriously stepping up our efforts for 2024 with the goal being complete eradication of this hornet. We 100% need the public’s help in this fight. The more eyes we can have looking out for these things the better,” said Matthew Agvent, the agency’s director of communications.
The insects aren’t any more dangerous to people than garden-variety hornets. But they kill bees, which are key pollinators for the state’s agriculture industry.
With spring underway, yellow-legged hornet queens are in their early stages of starting new nests, which are called “embryo” nests.
Experts say if you remove an embryo nest, it’s important to make sure you exterminate the queen, as well.
“Really if you think about some of Georgia’s most iconic crops, whether it’s Georgia peaches, south Georgia watermelons, blueberries, all of those crops require pollination to be successful. So. if these hornets are allowed to establish, it could potentially threaten those industries and the livelihoods of our farmers,” Agvent said.
If you come across a nest and queen, take a photo and report it using the online yellow-legged hornet reporting form or send an email.
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The first nest in the U.S. was found in August in Savannah, where the insects were thought to have come ashore on a ship. Since then, several more nests have been found up and down the coast.
Three yellow-legged hornet nests have been found in recent days – one in Beaufort County, S.C., and two in the Savannah area.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture said at least 12 hornets and seven nests have been found so far in the Peach State.
The five nests Georgia officials discovered in 2023 were larger secondary ones.
The more recent nests have been still in their early stages, from the size of a tennis ball to a ping-pong ball.
They’re often found in sheltered spots like the eaves of buildings.
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