Asian hornet: LeFrelon.com reinvents itself and opens the collective fight to neighbouring countries

Saint-Sauveur-de-Montagut (Ardèche, France), 23 October 2026. For immediate release. English translation; the French version is the original.

A platform redesigned for everyone involved in the fight

Launched by the Le Frelon association, LeFrelon.com connects the residents who report nests, the organisations that lead the fight in their area and the companies that remove nests. It is free for local authorities. In 2026, it has recorded 3,845 nests in 1,797 municipalities, 2,794 of them removed, with 25 partner organisations across 96 departments.

The public website has been completely redesigned. Its content is clearer, checked and sourced. The reporting form now asks one question per screen, with a map and a satellite view to locate the nest to the metre. Each person who reports a nest can then follow their report online. A public help centre answers the most frequent questions.

New tools to act faster

• Report from anywhere: a reporting bot on WhatsApp, Telegram and SMS, and a form that any town hall can embed on its own website.
• Help with removal costs: municipalities and inter-municipal bodies publish the support they offer; the person who reported the nest applies online.
• Field tools: an "Around me" map, distance and area measurement, bearings and tracking stations to trace a hornet back to its nest.
• Real-time management: instant notifications, a signed-in area that installs on a phone, several volunteers per report.
• Interoperability: an API open to partner applications, limited to each partner's own area.
• Data security: two-factor authentication and sign-in with a passkey.

Five neighbouring countries in a test phase

The Asian hornet does not stop at borders. LeFrelon.com is entering a test phase in Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. The full administrative boundaries of Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland are already built into the platform. During this phase, organisations in these countries are working with the association to coordinate the fight with their French neighbours, before opening to the public. The interface is being translated, starting with Dutch and English.

"A nest a few kilometres from a border concerns both sides. By opening LeFrelon.com to neighbouring countries, we are giving beekeepers, local authorities and professionals a shared tool, designed for working together rather than each on their own."

— Christophe Moins, president of the Le Frelon association

Key figures for the 2026 season in France

Source: LeFrelon.com, data as of 21 October 2026, updated several times a day.

About LeFrelon.com and the Le Frelon association

LeFrelon.com was born in 2018 in Ardèche, France, on the initiative of Christophe Moins, a beekeeper, pest control professional and former web developer involved in the collective fight against the Asian hornet in the Drôme and Ardèche departments. What began as a local tool for tracking reports is now used in 96 French departments by beekeepers' health associations, the FREDON plant health bodies, local authorities, volunteers and pest control companies.

The Le Frelon association, a French non-profit under the 1901 law, was founded in 2022 to sustain and develop the project. Its conviction: the fight against the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) works best when it is collective, organised and followed over time. The platform remains free for the organisations that coordinate the fight in their area. It is funded by donations, sponsorship and grants.

Press contact

Christophe Moins, president of the Le Frelon association
[email protected]

High-resolution visuals and screenshots available on request.