164 invasive yellow-legged hornets found in Georgia in May, state says

ATLANTA — The State of Georgia has been tracking an invasive species for several months now that’s been quite the buzz.

Georgia Department of Agriculture staff are working to track yellow-legged hornets as they fly through parts of the state and in May, officials said more than 160 were found.

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How many hornets have been found in Georgia?

During the month of May, here are the state’s hornet stats:

Deployed 40 traps
Found 164 yellow-legged hornets
Eradicated 10 yellow-legged hornet nests

Year-to-date, Georgia officials said 740 hornets were captured and 35 nests were eradicated.

So far, hornets have been detected mainly near Savannah, but also in Columbus and Augusta, according to the state’s yellow-legged hornet eradication dashboard.

Since 2024 and to date, Georgia officials said 100,104 hornets have been captured and 102 nests have been eradicated.

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What are the hornets doing?

Agriculture officials said the hornets have been seen with “increased hawking activity,” which is a sign that the hornets are starting their secondary nesting phase.

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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