Hornet-fighting pest controllers get new suits

EXTRA thick “space suits” have been issued to pest controllers to protect them from Asian hornets.

Pest controllers on Jersey are training with their French counterparts, who this summer destroyed 900 hornets’ nests in Normandy.

The first Asian hornet nest was found on Jersey in June, after the first sighting of one on the island last year. Since the insects arrived in France in 2004, six deaths have been linked to the stings.

As winter approaches, queen hornets will prepare to establish new colonies.

In a bid to prevent this from happening, two special suits 8mm thick have been bought, along with a 13-metre lance to shoot insecticide into nests.

The Environment Department and the Jersey Beekeepers’ Association sent beekeeper Tim du Feu and pest control staff to Normandy to be trained.