{"id":643112,"date":"2026-10-02T23:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T23:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/643112\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T23:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T23:48:13","slug":"asian-hornets-nest-located-in-cork-after-tiny-trackers-were-fixed-to-the-insects-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/643112\/","title":{"rendered":"Asian hornets\u2019 nest located in Cork after tiny trackers were fixed to the insects \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Asian hornets\u2019 nest has been located in Co Cork<\/a> by way of miniature tracking devices that were attached to some of the insects.<\/p>\n

The operation, spearheaded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service<\/a> (NPWS), followed the recent discovery of two of the insects. The Asian hornet is an invasive species that poses a significant threat<\/a> to native Irish honeybees.<\/p>\n

The discovery was made following reports of Asian hornets in the area. The nest was located near Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, and will now be removed. Monitoring will continue to identify any further activity.<\/p>\n

Minister for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity Christopher O\u2019Sullivan<\/a> said efforts had been escalated following the successful capture of a second Asian hornet in Ringaskiddy, close to the area where a member of the public had photographed another one last week.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Asian hornet nest which was located in Co Cork on Friday. <\/p>\n

At the time, O\u2019Sullivan called for renewed public vigilance following the discovery.<\/p>\n

The operation to locate the nest involved the use of miniature tracking transmitters attached to hornets, enabling the response team to rapidly trace and pinpoint the location of the nest.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan said \u201cspeed is critical\u201d in an operation like this. \u201cOnce reports of Asian hornets were received, it was essential that every effort was made to locate the nest as quickly as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The use of new technology has \u201csignificantly strengthened\u201d the response capability, allowing the hornets to be tracked back to their nest, he said.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan said monitoring would continue over the coming days to ensure any further activity was identified and dealt with \u201cpromptly\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0How to recognise an Asian hornet and what to do if you see oneOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cOur immediate priority is the safe removal of the nest and a thorough investigation of the surrounding area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan said this operation demonstrated the importance of early detection, public reporting and rapid action in managing invasive species and protecting Ireland\u2019s biodiversity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The director general with the NPWS, Niall O\u2019Donnch\u00fa, described the Asian hornet as \u201ca very aggressive invasive alien species\u201d, adding that the importance of finding the nest quickly \u201ccannot be overstated\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur teams will continue to work to establish that this is the sole nest in the vicinity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hornets hover outside beehives like helicopters to ambush and snatch returning, tired forager bees. They use their powerful jaws to cut the heads and wings off captured bees. They then take the protein-rich thorax back to their nest to feed developing larvae.<\/p>\n

While their venomous sting is painful, health authorities note they pose no greater direct risk to humans than native wasps or hornets, unless an individual suffers from severe allergic reactions.<\/p>\n

The Asian hornet is distinguished from other hornets, wasps, and bees by its dark, velvety body, bright yellow leg tips, and specialised hunting behaviour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Asian hornets\u2019 nest has been located in Co Cork by way of miniature tracking devices that were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[851,85052,46,61,60,3095,3738,43],"class_list":["post-643112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-biodiversity","tag-christoper-o-sullivan","tag-cork","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-national-parks-wildlife-service","tag-nature","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}