Lancaster County beekeepers on alert as yellow-legged hornets appear in Georgia

Lancaster County beekeepers are keeping a close eye on Georgia as confirmed sightings of yellow-legged hornets in that state could signal a new threat to local honeybee hives.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture announced the first confirmed sighting there of the yellow-legged hornet on Aug. 15. The department has issued guidance to Georgia residents and provided an online form to report additional potential sightings.

Yellow-legged hornets are native to Southeast Asia. Their preferred prey is honeybees, and the Western honeybees found in the United States could face large risks if this invasive predator spreads and becomes established.

Denny Gorman, vice president of the Lancaster County Beekeepers Society, estimated the county’s beekeepers society has 230 members who manage at least 400 hives, but he believes the overall hive count in Lancaster County measures in the thousands.

Michael Skvarla, an assistant research professor of arthropod identification at Penn State University, said that yellow-legged hornets feed on a wide variety of insects but prefer to feed on honeybees.

Skvarla explained that Lancaster County beekeepers could face a much greater impact than the county’s gardeners and farmers if the hornets spread north from the areas in Georgia.

Presuming yellow-legged hornets establish and spread like they have in Europe, the impact on agriculture in general will likely be minimal, but the impact on beekeeping in particular could be large, Skvarla said.

Skvarla added, “One report from Europe stated that 30% of honeybee hives were weakened by hornet attacks and 5% were destroyed outright. I'm not sure what that might mean in terms of economic impact to beekeepers here, but it's another stressor -- along with various pathogens and pests that will increase the percent of hives lost during winter and decrease profitability.”

Denny Gorman is a certified master beekeeper [photos]

Gorman said local beekeepers are already combating the varroa mite, a parasite that arrived in the United States in 1987; habitat loss; and pesticide exposure.

Gorman said those combined threats commonly equate to a 40% to 50% loss of locally managed bee colonies each winter.

Varroa mites (Varroa destructor) attack the honeybees (Apis mellifera, known as Western or European honeybees) found in Lancaster County hives.

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Although the Georgia Department of Agriculture is concerned about the potential impact yellow-legged hornets could have on both honeybees and native pollinators that are important to the state’s agricultural industry, Pennsylvania experts are less concerned about the potential impact of yellow-legged hornets on Lancaster County agriculture.

Other than the potential impact on the county’s beekeepers, Skvarla isn’t worried.

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“Honeybees are used to pollinate some crops, but we're finding that supplemental pollination often isn't needed (e.g., in pumpkins) or there are better pollinators available (e.g., mason bees in apples, bumble bees in tomatoes),” he said.

Western honeybees are native to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. These honeybees can have a negative impact on other local pollinators when found outside bee farms, so Skvarla said decreasing the number of honeybees in the Lancaster County landscape could actually help the county’s farmers.

Gorman said he would not discount the local economic impact of honeybees, adding that his Manor Township neighbor saw a 30% increase in his berry crop after Gorman began beekeeping next door.

How to differentiate between hornet species

Confirmed sightings of yellow-legged hornets in Georgia have sparked fears that a new invasive species could impact local honeybees.

Many other local pollinators exist, including the European hornets that have been part of the U.S. ecosystem for 180 years.

How do you identify a yellow-legged hornet (also called an Asian hornet)?

Check the legs. Yellow-legged hornets (Vespa velutina) measure approximately 1.2 to 3 centimeters in length. They have bright yellow legs and a black head. Their thoraxes and abdomens are mostly black, with a single yellow segment toward the posterior end of the abdomen.

What is a European hornet?

Common in the eastern United States, including across Pennsylvania, European hornets (Vespa crabro) were introduced into North America in the 1840s. European hornet workers can be up to an inch long, while queens can reach 1.3 inches (Note: Denny Gorman, vice president of the Lancaster County Beekeepers Society, believes the European hornet he captured is a queen.) Their heads are red and yellow, their thoraxes are red and brown, and their abdomens are brown and yellow.

Are yellow-legged hornets or European hornets dangerous?

No. “Yellow-legged hornets are no worse in terms of eliciting an allergic reaction than other wasps and hornets, so people who are allergic to bee and wasp stings should be wary, but they should be wary of any sting from any bee or wasp,” said Michael Skvarla, an assistant research professor of arthropod identification at Penn State University. European hornets are well-established in Pennsylvania and important pollinators that can be helpful to local gardeners.

Why are yellow-legged hornets and European hornets confused with murder hornets?

When Asian giant hornets (now called northern giant hornets according to U.S. Department of Agriculture guidance from 2022) hit North America in 2019, the press and public quickly nicknamed the species “murder hornets” in reference to their large size, their painful and dangerous stings, and their ability to quickly and thoroughly wipe out honeybee hives.

Yellow-legged hornets are also called Asian hornets, and the similarity between the two species’ common names has sparked confusion about the many differences between these two invasive species and their potential impact on North American agriculture, beekeeping and the general public.

European hornets are larger than yellow-legged hornets, but even their queens do not reach the size of northern giant hornets.

How do you identify a northern giant hornet (formerly called Asian giant hornets and nicknamed murder hornets)?

These are the world’s largest hornet and can reach from 1.5 to 2 inches in size. They have large yellow or orange heads, dark brown or black thoraxes, and alternating bands of dark brown or black and yellow or orange on the abdomen.

Where in the United States have northern giant hornets been sighted?

Native to northern India and East Asia, northern giant hornets (Vespa mandarinia) were first found in North America in the Vancouver Island area of Canada in August 2019. The species has since been sighted in the far northwest corner of Washington state.