Britain risks being taken over by a devastating foreign species

We have become accustomed to headlines about invasive species coming across the Channel and threatening our native wildlife. Often there is shoulder-shrugging and recitations of the long list of species brought by the Romans or the Normans or eccentric Victorian collectors and now happily integrated into British ecosystems. 

But this year’s invasive species should not be treated glibly, as we already know that it won’t integrate without doing terrible damage. It may or may not be as a direct consequence of climate change that the Asian hornet has established a bridgehead on the south coast; certainly a lack of hard weather could have helped them to overwinter. 

The fact that we know from genetic analysis that hornets found this spring are related to last year’s at least gives us some confidence in our greater ability to monitor what is going on. But the damage they are capable of doing to our native honeybees and other pollinators means that this is one invasion we need to take very seriously indeed. And unfortunately our record of dealing with the spread of invasive species is deplorable. 

Analogous to the fatal consequences of mixing Asian hornets with honey-bees is the plight of the red squirrel when confronted by the non-native grey. 

I am feeling especially raw about that as this may be the year, here in Dumfriesshire, when we declare defeat. We held the line for two decades and showed that it was possible to keep grey squirrels at bay by ruthless culling. Had everyone been as dedicated as our local volunteers the war could have been won. But, nationally, society had lost the will to succeed. 

The bounties paid at post offices for grey squirrel tails ended a generation ago and there is now lobbying from faux environmentalists to protect the grey squirrel. 

Similarly, American crayfish have wreaked havoc in our aquatic environment. They are very good to eat and that may have provided the financial incentive to wipe them out. But there was a bureaucratic reluctance to issue the necessary licences and now it is probably too late. 

Meanwhile, small numbers of escaped parakeets have been allowed to get out of control in the south of England with bad consequences for our native birdlife. 

The lessons are clear: problems with invasive species have to be nipped in the bud early before they get out of control, and there has to be a sustained campaign. 

In the case of defending our bees, and by extension our beekeeping industry, it is vital that Defra strains every sinew to stop the spread of the hornets – and critical that ministers focus on the challenge immediately after the election and provide the resources to help find innovative solutions. Critically for the rural economy, beekeeping is still genuinely a cottage industry. Losing our bees would be unthinkable. 

Fortunately, there is more chance of a citizen army forming to combat the hornet threat than there has been for other invasions. 

A generation of schoolchildren has grown up being terrified by scenarios where the bees die out. Many people have phones capable of identifying hornets. And there should be less squeamishness about destroying hornets’ nests than grey squirrel dreys. 

This time we must prevail over an alien invader. Action stations!