ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Agriculture is still working to keep the state and its honeybees safe from an invasive species.
State officials said they are still working to track down and eradicate Yellow-Legged Hornet populations in Georgia to protect the state’s bees and its biggest industry: agriculture.
In August, the department said its team found 1,090 Yellow-Legged Hornets and 60 nests.
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State personnel also deployed 48 new traps for the hornets and checked 7,944 that were already in place.
With the current high temperatures, agriculture officials said YLH activity is ongoing and warned residents to keep a lookout for hornet nests and “hawking” behavior near Georgia beehives.
Hawking is when the hornets wait outside of beehives to ambush and hunt the pollinators, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
What do I do if I see yellow-legged hornets?
As hornet activity increases, Georgia Agriculture personnel are urging Georgians to stay vigilant and keep an eye out for nests.
Anyone who thinks they’ve seen a yellow-legged hornet nest or the hornets hawking near beehives in their area is asked to contact the GDA Plant Protection Team at yellow.legged.horent@agr.georgia.gov.
You can report your own sightings to the state, here.
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