SRUC Beekeeping | Honey bee health: Yellow-legged hornet

The yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) previously known as the Asian hornet, is a non-native invasive species which has spread across mainland Europe and preys on pollinators, including honey bees.

There have been no confirmed yellow-legged hornet sightings in Scotland to date (February 2026). There have however been confirmed sightings as far north as Middlesborough and in Belfast in Northern Ireland. You can check on recent sightings using the Yellow-legged hornet 2025 rolling update link found in our Education page.

You can find more information about yellow-legged hornets below and in our education page.

How to identify a yellow-legged hornet:

Approximately 2.5 cm in length – bigger than a wasp but not as large as a European hornet.
No visible ‘stinger’ – an ovipositor which looks like a stinger is visible on a wood wasp, not on a yellow-legged hornet.
Dark velvety black body with a clear broad yellow band on the fourth segment of its abdomen.
Pinched waist and long antennae.
Orange face.
Yellow tips to legs.

Yellow-legged hornets may have reached the south of England by flying or being blown across the channel from France. However, the yellow-legged hornet is also a good hitchhiker that can travel through movement of vehicles, ships, and goods.

We are most likely to spot a yellow-legged hornet once their population is at its highest, between August and October. This is when they are openly foraging for protein sources. Be alert around trees and vegetation where they might nest, and at potential food sources such as beehives and mammal carcasses.

As the yellow-legged hornet colony disbands in late autumn, individuals are more attracted by sugar sources and can often be found feeding on fallen fruit, compost heaps and ivy nectar. You can find downloadable posters and cards about spotting and reporting yellow-legged hornets in these documents from our Education page:

Confuser species poster
Alert poster Vespa velutine
ID vespa velutina yellow-legged hornet
ID vespa velutine Asian Hornet nest
Information portal - NNSS

The Scottish Government has a contingency plan in preparation for an incursion. You can find this plan, called the Pest-Specific Contingency Plan Yellow-Legged Hornet, in our Education page.

If you spot something that you think might be a yellow-legged hornet, try to take a photo if safe to do so. Photographs of nests or downloaded pictures from the internet will not be investigated. Report the sighting using this form Non-native Alert - Asian Hornet or use the Asian Hornet App available for Android and iPhone.

Background and life cycle of the yellow-legged hornet

Learn more

BeeBase

BeeBase is the Animal and Plant Health Agency's (APHA) National Bee Unit website, designed for beekeepers and supporting Defra, Welsh Government, and Scotland's Bee Health Programmes.

Go to BeeBase

GB non-native species secretariat

Yellow-legged hornet information portal

Go to site

Need advice?

If you need advice on your bees or beekeeping, feel free to get in touch with Lorraine Johnston, SRUC Bee Advisor for Scotland.

Email: Lorraine.Johnston@sruc.ac.uk
Phone: 077 95 91 92 09

Based at SRUC Barony Campus, Parkgate, Dumfries, DG1 3NE

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