Home From Home | A serial killer on the loose in English countryside: why not all Asian immigrants to the UK are welcomed
- The Asian hornet, known for its attacks on bee colonies that leave no survivors, has been spotted in Kent, in the UK, and residents have been warned
- Cliff Buddle, who watched an Asian hornet demolish a wasp nest when he lived in Hong Kong, keeps a watchful eye in his English country garden
A visit to a village market is usually a sedate affair, so I was surprised to see a “wanted” poster on the egg stall targeting a serial killer from Asia.
The British public was being warned to be on alert for this feared predator and to report sightings to the authorities immediately. There was even a mugshot.
But the risk to humans is minimal, as the prime victims of this mass murderer are bees. The emergency has been sparked by an unwelcome immigrant: the Asian hornet.
This scary-looking member of the wasp family is at home in Hong Kong and other parts of Southeast Asia. It has also made its presence widely felt in Europe, since arriving in 2004, but is rarely spotted in Britain.
That might be about to change. There have been only 108 sightings of the hornet in Britain since its first appearance in 2016. But more than half of those were last year.
Eight have been identified already this year, earlier than usual, sparking fears of a rapid growth in numbers.
