Yorkshire Beekeepers Association -YBKA

27/09/2026

2026 YBKA Photography Competition Results

Our photography competition at this year's Great Yorkshire Show brought in some lovely entries from YBKA members, and we're delighted to share the results. We were lucky to have John Gregson Images as our judge. John is a photographer whose work has featured in the BBC Countryfile calendar, and he's the son of the actor John Gregson (Snr). He looked at every entry, and he was full of praise for what he saw....

Our photography competition at this year’s Great Yorkshire Show brought in some lovely entries from YBKA members, and we’re delighted to share the results. We were lucky to have John G…

13/09/2026

13/09/2026

That's Yellow-Legged Asian Hornet Week done, but the season isn't over. Keep watching through autumn, especially around apiaries. Thanks to everyone who shared a post, checked their hives, or signed up this week.

Fact: since being confirmed in the UK in 2016, most nests have been found and destroyed before producing new queens. That only happens because people keep reporting.

Sightings and volunteering always open at ybka.org.uk/help

12/09/2026

Early reporting is what stops Yellow-Legged Asian Hornets establishing here. We're building a network of standby volunteers across Yorkshire who can help monitor and support YBKA members to support the NBU.

Fact: early nest destruction, before autumn, is the single biggest factor in slowing the spread. Every trained pair of eyes helps.

Register on the CATCH website in five minutes at ybka.org.uk/help

11/09/2026

Don't approach a nest and don't try to catch the hornet. Nests can be defended aggressively if disturbed, so keep well back and never attempt removal yourself. Take a photo from a safe distance if you can, note the location, and report it. The Asian Hornet Watch app is the fastest route.

Fact: individual foraging hornets are generally no more likely to bother you than a wasp, but a disturbed nest is a different matter entirely. Multiple stings from a defended nest can be serious, which is exactly why nest destruction is left to trained professionals.

Report a sighting at ybka.org.uk/help

10/09/2026

Yellow-Legged Asian Hornets hunt honeybees at hive entrances, hovering just in front, picking off returning foragers. Late summer into autumn is peak activity, which is exactly where we are now. If you keep bees, watch your apiary in the afternoon.

Fact: a single Asian hornet nest can take out tens of thousands of honeybees over a season. It's estimated that a YLAH nest can consume 11kg of pollinators and insects in a season.

If you spot this behaviour, report it at ybka.org.uk/help

09/09/2026

Smaller than you'd expect. Our native European hornet is bigger and has a yellow face, orange-brown body and brown legs.

The Asian hornet is darker overall, almost black-brown, with just one narrow orange-yellow band near the tip of the abdomen. And of course, the yellow socks.

Fact: workers are around 25mm long, queens closer to 30mm. Both are smaller than a European hornet queen.

Compare them side by side at ybka.org.uk/help

08/09/2026

The legs

Let's start with the name. "Yellow-Legged". Yellow legs, dark body. If you see a hornet with pale, almost creamy-yellow legs against a mostly black or dark brown body, look twice. Native hornets have legs that match the rest of them, brown and yellow banded.

Fact: only the last segment of each leg is yellow, it's not the whole leg. Think dipped in paint, not painted all over.

More detail at ybka.org.uk/help

07/09/2026

It's Yellow-Legged Asian Hornet Week. This invasive species is spreading across the UK and every sighting matters, whether it turns out to be a hornet or not. Over the next seven days we'll show you exactly what to look for and how to report it.

Fact: Yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) arrived in France in 2004 where it spread rapidly. A number of sightings have been recorded in the UK since 2016.

👉 Full ID guide and how to report at ybka.org.uk/help

30/08/2026

A Wild Colony Turns Up at Scalby Mills

One of our members at Scarborough and District Beekeeping Association had quite a find last week. A wild colony had set up home out in the open, in a hawthorn tree near the apiary at Scalby Mills,…