Trapping the Asian hornet: when and how?

If you are a private individual and want to trap in your garden: don't. The traps available are not selective, they kill large numbers of other insects, and they have no effect on the nest you are trying to get rid of. Trapping has only proven useful in two situations: around an apiary under pressure, and as part of coordinated spring action across an area.

Should you trap the Asian hornet?

To date there is no fully selective trap. No device on the market catches only the Asian hornet: you will also catch wasps, flies, butterflies and European hornets — many of which are useful, and some of which are in decline.

That is why Anses, in its prevention recommendations, explicitly says not to set up traps made of plastic bottles with syrup: "they kill other insects that are essential to biodiversity and will have almost no impact on the targeted nest".

The reasoning is simple: catching workers does not reduce what the nest produces, as it keeps producing more. A trap placed near an active nest removes a flow, not the source.

Spring trapping of foundresses

When they come out of hibernation, foundresses look for a place to build their primary nest. They are active earlier in the season than their European counterparts. Each foundress caught at this time means one nest that will never exist — hence the value of this window.

ITSAP research carried out in three departments gives two benchmarks:

• Continuity comes first: trapping repeated without interruption for four years is twice as effective as the same effort over three years.
• The density required is high: around 59 traps per 3 km², or one every 350 metres or so.

In other words, a few traps set up on their own in a garden have no measurable effect at the scale that matters. It is a collective action, coordinated across an area, or it is nothing — and in that case, all that remains is the damage to non-target insects.

As there are no fully selective traps and baits, ITSAP recommends limiting spring trapping to areas where predation really threatens the survival of honeybee colonies, especially around apiaries that have suffered winter losses attributed to the hornet.

When to stop trapping

As soon as the first European hornets get caught. The European hornet is a useful native species that lives alongside bees without major difficulty and can even attack the Asian hornet. Trapping it is pointless and counterproductive.

It comes out of hibernation later, which in practice marks the end of the window in which trapping mainly targets Asian hornet foundresses.

A trap left in place all year is a mistake: it becomes a biodiversity trap with no benefit.

Which trap to choose

If you trap for a justified reason, the choice of model makes all the difference.

Choose funnel traps with entrance cones, with a separation between the bait and the capture chamber. This design holds the foundresses while letting small insects get out again, and stops them from drowning in the liquid.

Bell traps and bottle traps should be avoided: they are particularly unselective. If that is all you have, at least adapt them — a sponge or a false bottom to prevent drowning, and holes of 5 mm at most so that small insects can escape. These are fixes, not a solution.

In all cases, check your traps regularly and release non-target insects that are still alive. A trap that is not checked is an unselective trap.

Which bait?

A fermented sweet mixture works well: for example one third red fruit syrup, one third dark beer and one third white wine. The wine matters: it greatly reduces the attraction for bees, which cannot stand it.

Never use a product based on animal protein in spring: it would attract many species indiscriminately.

Trapping at the apiary: what works and what disappoints

When Asian hornets put heavy pressure on an apiary, trapping is often the first reflex. Yet it is the least effective lever.

ITSAP considers the effectiveness of autumn trapping "often disappointing" for protecting apiaries, for the same reason as above: the nest keeps sending new hunters.

The levers whose effectiveness is better established lie elsewhere:

• removing nearby nests, which ITSAP considers the best solution;
• entrance guards fitted to hives from mid-July;
• electric harps, especially under medium to heavy pressure;
• reducing hive entrances.

How to protect an apiary from the Asian hornet

What do the regulations say about trapping?

The law no. 2025-237 of 14 March 2025 provides for a national control plan to set out guidelines on selective trapping, in line with scientific recommendations aimed at protecting non-target species.

This national plan has not been adopted yet. It will only come into force once a joint order of the ministers for the environment and for agriculture is published in the Journal officiel. Until then, the department plans that are supposed to set out local arrangements cannot be adopted.

Today, no text prohibits or requires trapping by private individuals. The recommendations on this page are technical and scientific, not regulatory.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. ITSAP – French Bee Institute: assessing the effectiveness of spring trapping (28 March 2021), 2016-2020 study (in French)

2. ITSAP – French Bee Institute: how to set up a control strategy against the yellow-legged hornet (in French)

3. Anses (2025), Envenomation by yellow-legged hornets and other hymenoptera in mainland France, request no. 2024-AST-0153 — appendix 5, prevention recommendations (in French)

4. Law no. 2025-237 of 14 March 2025 — Légifrance (in French)

5. Draft national plan to control the yellow-legged Asian hornet — consultation closed on 29 April 2026 (document not adopted) (in French)

Information checked on 14/08/2026.