Biosecurity teams on Auckland’s North Shore are stepping up their hunt for the yellow-legged hornet as the weather warms, in case any queen hornets survived the winter and are about to start new nests. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard said on Monday that the eradication effort was entering a critical phase as spring arrives.
The response has destroyed 77 queens and 132 nests since the invasive Asian hornet was found in Auckland in October 2025, and no hornets have been seen since April. “That’s encouraging, but we are not out of the woods yet,” Hoggard said.
“If any mated queens survived winter, they may start emerging in the coming weeks to build new nests.”
Surveillance, trapping and monitoring of beehives carried on through winter, and the Government says all three are now being stepped up for the high-risk spring period. Search teams will be looking for hornets and early nests, backed by traps and new detection tools. “This is a crucial time. If any queens are out there, we need to find them now,” Hoggard said.
Spring matters because of the way the hornet breeds. Late in the season a colony produces new queens, which mate, scatter and spend the winter tucked away in sheltered spots before starting nests of their own when the weather warms. Victoria University of Wellington biology professor Phil Lester wrote in April that missing even one hidden nest could undo the year’s progress and send the response back to square one the following season.
Last spring shows how quickly the numbers can build once queens are on the move. The first queens were detected in October 2025. By 27 November, RNZ reported that Biosecurity New Zealand had confirmed 26 queen hornets, 16 of them with developed nests or signs of nesting, all in the Glenfield and Birkdale area. By late January the count had reached 45 queens, 32 of them with nests. By mid-April it was 77, and it has not moved since.
The public reports tell a similar story. Biosecurity New Zealand had received nearly 4,000 notifications of suspected hornets by late November and 10,270 by late January, more than 6,000 in two summer months. Lester wrote in April that the Ministry for Primary Industries had received more than 16,625. The count was about 17,850 when the Government announced new research projects in late June, and Monday’s statement puts it at more than 18,000. “That support remains vital,” Hoggard said.
Telling a yellow-legged hornet from the wasps already living here is not hard once you know what to look for. The Department of Conservation describes it as larger than a common wasp, mostly black with a single yellow or orange band near its tail, and with distinctive yellow ends to its legs. Pest Free Kaipātiki, a community conservation group on the North Shore, notes that the hornet’s nests are smooth on the outside, while other wasp nests show visible cells. Small early nests tend to turn up under house eaves, in garages and in the kinds of places where people usually find wasp nests.
Anyone who thinks they have seen a hornet or a nest is asked to take a photo if it is safe to do so and report it straight away, either by calling 0800 80 99 66 or online at report.mpi.govt.nz. “Early reports give us the best chance of finding and destroying any new nests before they become established,” Hoggard said.
Nests should be left alone. Lester notes that the hornets are not usually aggressive away from their nests but will defend them vigorously if disturbed, and that in Europe stings have been linked to anaphylaxis and, in some cases, death.
The bigger worry is what the hornet would do to bees. It has spread rapidly through parts of Europe over the past 20 years and specialises in hunting live prey, often hovering at the entrance of a hive and picking off returning bees in mid-flight. “A single colony can consume tens of thousands of honey bees and other insects over a season,” Lester wrote. Whole hives can collapse, and bees that survive may stop foraging, which cuts pollination of crops and native plants.
The risk goes beyond beekeeping. The Department of Conservation says the hornet also eats native bees, flies and other insects that pollinate plants, and could compete with native birds and other animals that feed on insects.
The response has thrown a wide range of tools at the problem, drawing on local and international scientific advice. The Government lists hornet-mounted radio trackers, cameras that use artificial intelligence, thermal drones, traps and Vespex bait. Lester explained in April how the trackers work. Tiny radio transmitters are fitted to captured worker hornets, which are then released and followed as they fly home, leading search crews to nests hidden high in trees. He also noted that beekeepers were helping by monitoring more than 575 apiaries across the region.
Officials have been preparing for the chance that the job is not quite finished. The four research projects announced in June are being led by scientists at the Bioeconomy Science Institute. They include modelling to identify high-risk areas where hornets might still be present and a readiness package for the honey and pollination sectors, should long-term management become necessary. “While we have made great progress, we must be ready for the possibility that some queens have survived,” Hoggard said at the time.
Even a quiet spring will not end the response straight away. “If no further hornets are found after two years of surveillance, New Zealand will be able to meet international standards for declaring eradication,” Hoggard said.
Newswire reported in May on the move to a quieter winter phase after six weeks without a find. The next few weeks will show whether that silence holds. Full details and photos of the hornet are on the Ministry for Primary Industries website.
Have you spotted hornet traps or search teams in your street on the North Shore, or are you a beekeeper keeping a closer eye on your hives this spring? Tell us what you are seeing in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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