{"id":116273,"date":"2025-11-03T21:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T21:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/116273\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T21:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T21:27:07","slug":"brad-windust-urges-andrew-hoggard-to-remove-mpi-from-hornet-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/116273\/","title":{"rendered":"Brad Windust urges Andrew Hoggard to remove MPI from hornet response"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an experienced beekeeper, Windust said he is aware there will likely be hundreds of queen Asian hornets now present in Auckland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"NorthlandNorthland biosecurity worker Brad Windust says MPI must install a grid of traps for hornets across the Auckland region and householders should also be making their own. Photos \/ supplied<\/p>\n

He said the discovery of two male Asian hornets six months ago \u2013 in the Auckland suburbs of Grafton and Albany, could only mean one thing: \u201ca queen hornet <\/a>had made its way into the country, built a nest, and gone undercover last summer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat nest would have released hundreds of queens last autumn, each capable of dispersing up to 34km. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnly putting out six to 10 traps where the queens were found is inadequate beyond belief. I actually didn\u2019t believe what I was hearing.\u201d <\/p>\n

In his view, thousands of traps needed to go out in a grid across the Auckland region.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn top of that, thousands more traps should be deployed in the summer months to catch live worker hornets so that tiny tracking devices can be attached, allowing them to be tracked back to their nest, which can then be destroyed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause queen Asian hornets disperse up to 34km, we only have one summer to get on top of this, and we\u2019re already six months behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cBee-eating yellow-legged hornets will destroy our beekeeping industry, which will have a catastrophic impact on our entire primary sector,\u201d Windust said.<\/p>\n

It would only take two or three nests to survive this summer without being detected, for the magnitude of the problem to \u201cexplode exponentially and beyond control\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, with everyone\u2019s involvement, calling out MPI and putting the pressure on, we can get a better result, \u201d Windust said. <\/p>\n

Speaking about MPI\u2019s previous pest responses, Inglis said, \u201cWe worked alongside a range of partners, including within the primary sector<\/a> and public, which is exactly what we are doing for the hornet finds. All New Zealanders can contribute to biosecurity and we\u2019re thankful for the public\u2019s help in any response.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to note that we work our way methodically through responses and assess the information and then take actions accordingly. Unlike fruit fly, which has a specific trap to attract it, there is no such option for hornets.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team has worked to assess viable trap options, noting those being used will [also] capture bees, flies and other insects. The placement of traps is being guided by public notifications. We will monitor how effective the traps are.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur staff on the ground in the areas where the hornet has been found have received positive feedback from the public and thanked for their work. We\u2019ve spoken to Mr Windust twice to reassure him that we are working hard in response to the hornets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to thank the public for their vigilance in keeping an eye out for this hornet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years\u2019 experience in journalism, most of which she spent court reporting in Gisborne and on the East Coast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As an experienced beekeeper, Windust said he is aware there will likely be hundreds of queen Asian hornets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[20251,6213,82647,2941,1559,47677,1887,3468,5658,71,82645,71993,71994,82646,26662,700,29107,9097,111,43,139,1067,69,19028,32260,28875,5034,312,21708,1555,61,3552,81521,102,71992],"class_list":["post-116273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-andrew","tag-asian","tag-beekeeper","tag-brad","tag-called","tag-conservationist","tag-countrys","tag-deal","tag-experts","tag-from","tag-hoggard","tag-hornet","tag-hornets","tag-incompetent","tag-itself","tag-latest","tag-mpi","tag-must","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-pest","tag-proved","tag-remove","tag-response","tag-says","tag-suitable","tag-threat","tag-to","tag-urges","tag-windust","tag-with","tag-yellowlegged"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}