As the hornet continues to make ground on the continent and is threatening to get established in mainland UK, this is an important and timely contribution to a debate that beekeepers are going to have to have before the NBU withdraws from the front-line battle to eradicate the hornet.
Calling on the evidence that he presented in his recent book, Andrew Durham puts forward the argument that nest destruction schemes have proved to be “a dangerous delusion”, promoted by scientists but ultimately failing to make any impact on the hornet’s expansion and, more often than not, coming too late to protect biodiversity or to help beekeepers in the apiary.
He presents the argument that the spring trapping of foundress queens, something previously discouraged by scientists, offers much more potential to protect our biodiversity and is more effective at reducing predation levels in the apiary.
Andrew outlines what the beekeeper needs to do to best protect their bees and looks at defence against the hornet in and around the apiary.

Andrew Durham is a Cambridgeshire beekeeper who started his research into the Asian Hornet (a.k.a. Yellow-legged Hornet – Vespa velutina) in 2014, travelling around France and researching the impact of the hornet on French beekeeping. He has written regularly for the BBKA News and given talks in BBKA Asian Hornet Weeks/Conferences. His book “Asian Hornet – The Beekeeper’s Guide to Defences against the Yellow Legged Hornet Vespa Velutina” was published by Northern Bee Books in April 2025 and is widely available on a number of bookselling websites including Amazon.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

View System Requirements