December 10, 2025 • 7 mins
Will Halliday discusses hornets being found in Auckland, and what it means if it spreads around the country.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The Muster Events Diary brought to you by Beef and
Lamb New Zealand. Go to Beef and lambenz dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
And joining us this afternoon from Beef and Lad New
Zealander is Will Halliday. Well, welcome to the Muster once again.
Always good to catch up.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Yeah, cana Andy, it's been a while, but yeah, great
to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
We're talking today about the yellow legged hornets where we're
hearing a bit of us in the media, especially up
in Auckland where there's been quite a few side things
around it, but it's kind of still a mystery for
a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
So the Ministry for Primary Industries have found these hornets.
They are in the north shore of Auckland. I think
they've found about thirty odd queens now that that have
built little nests or actually quite large nests. Yeah, and
they're a bit of a concern because what they do
(00:58):
is they attack bees. So they're quite cunning. They hover
outside bee hives and they capture these worker bees as
they emerge from the bee hive, and so it's a
bit of a concern that they're going to impact these
hives and the ability for bees to pollinate things.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Is it fair to say that a honey industry could
be under attack if these get established?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Yep, yep. Absolutely. If they can establish, get out of
Auckland and establish in the wider country, that could be
a major impact to the honey industry. But not just
to them. Just think of all the other crops and
plants that need or that rely on bees for pollination.
I'm thinking things like kiwi fruit, certain fruit trees, and
(01:49):
you know the one thing that we all rely on
is clover.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
So how did they get established in Auckland? Will just
from overseas obviously, but just through cargo and got through
the tracks.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Oh look, that's a great question, Andy, And I don't know,
and I'm sure that that's part of the investigation that's ongoing,
or you know, something will come out in the in
the wash once the response has been yeah, it has
been concluded. But I think we need to just remember that,
you know, buy security. It's not a wall, it's a net.
(02:24):
And you know, we do pretty well at capturing most
things before they establish in New Zealand, but every so
often something like this gets in it and it requires
a response and potentially something ongoing. So you know, we
can't spend all the money trying to keep things out.
(02:45):
We can, we can capture as much as we.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Can because they also thrive on flies, bees, And did
I say at wasps? So wasps do have the encryptonite
after all?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, yeah, I guess you could look at the silver
lie However, you know, yeah, that they're pretty nasty and
apparently if you do approach them will make them angry.
They can give you quite a nasty thing as well.
So yeah, I mean, given all the reasons, I think
it's best if we can try and get rid of
these things.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yeah, so what's the major difference between a hornet nest
and a wast nest?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Right? So, I'm actually looking at the NPI website right now,
and I encourage people if they are interested in this
to go to the NPI website because there's some great
photos on there. And yeah, these things they can create
a nest apparently as large as eighty centimeters tool, which
(03:43):
if you think about that, that that's quite a big nest.
But what they've been finding is these these smaller nests
are what they call an embryo or primary nest that
the queens build themselves. And that's about the size of
a tennis ball, and they sort of hang from a
tree branch or under the eaves of houses or sheds.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
So very similar to the way that wasps established, too.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Similar to the paper wasp, and I think what we
have been hearing is a lot of I wouldn't say
false reports, befo. I'd say, you know, a bit of
mistaken identity where people are reporting to MPI that they
think they've got them and it does turn out to
be a paper wasp. But I certainly encourage people to
(04:35):
keep reporting because every one of these nests that we
find is really significant.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Same question again, how do you differentiate between a wasp
and a hornet?
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Right? The main thing is the size. So these hornets
they are about up to about an inch long or
two and a half centimeters long, whereas your standard, your
German wasp is a lot slimmer and shorter. And then
when you get down to your paper wasps, they're only
(05:07):
about half the size of these hornets. So they're significantly
large insect by you know, relatively, And so yeah, that's
that's the number one thing. Really, But if you go
on to the MPI website, you'll be able to see
a really good close up photo with some really good
distinguishing features that will help you identify them.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
But the main thing to remember at the moment this
has only been found in the Auckland region. We're just
giving people an indication if they see something out of
the ordinary down here, then there's a possibility perhaps and
that sort is that it could be your hornet.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Absolutely. You know, we're in the response phase in Auckland,
specifically on the north shore, but for the rest of
the country. You know, we're really asking for people to
get out and if they see something unusual, do let
us know or do let emp I know, because you know,
we want to make sure that we can contain this
(06:05):
and then and then try and eradicate it from where
it is.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Well, Holiday, thanks very much, you had time on the
muster and here is hoping we keep this pest where
it belongs.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Absolutely, Andy, pleasure to talk to you. We'll catch you,
lader mate.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Well.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Holiday out of beef and lamb. So once again, the
yellow legged hornet, it's bigger than a wasp. And will
just make this clear. It hasn't been found in the
South Island yet, only up in thew Auckland region. It's
certainly something to look out for. Do you think or hornets?
What if you got You've got the what was it
the Bill Cosby Show back in the day? It was
a show within a show fed Albert in the Gang
(06:41):
the Brown Hornet back in the early eighties for those
that remember that right, and Charlotte hornets in the NBA.
Apart from that, kind of an unknown quality but nonetheless
as well. I'll go to beeflamenz dot com to get
the inbox and do you get the e Diary into
your inbox? Friday Mornings. Warren Ross is up next aout
me at my naming the King
The Muster Events Diary brought to you by Beef and
Lamb New Zealand. Go to Beef and lambenz dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
And joining us this afternoon from Beef and Lad New
Zealander is Will Halliday. Well, welcome to the Muster once again.
Always good to catch up.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Yeah, cana Andy, it's been a while, but yeah, great
to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
We're talking today about the yellow legged hornets where we're
hearing a bit of us in the media, especially up
in Auckland where there's been quite a few side things
around it, but it's kind of still a mystery for
a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
So the Ministry for Primary Industries have found these hornets.
They are in the north shore of Auckland. I think
they've found about thirty odd queens now that that have
built little nests or actually quite large nests. Yeah, and
they're a bit of a concern because what they do
(00:58):
is they attack bees. So they're quite cunning. They hover
outside bee hives and they capture these worker bees as
they emerge from the bee hive, and so it's a
bit of a concern that they're going to impact these
hives and the ability for bees to pollinate things.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Is it fair to say that a honey industry could
be under attack if these get established?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Yep, yep. Absolutely. If they can establish, get out of
Auckland and establish in the wider country, that could be
a major impact to the honey industry. But not just
to them. Just think of all the other crops and
plants that need or that rely on bees for pollination.
I'm thinking things like kiwi fruit, certain fruit trees, and
(01:49):
you know the one thing that we all rely on
is clover.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
So how did they get established in Auckland? Will just
from overseas obviously, but just through cargo and got through
the tracks.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Oh look, that's a great question, Andy, And I don't know,
and I'm sure that that's part of the investigation that's ongoing,
or you know, something will come out in the in
the wash once the response has been yeah, it has
been concluded. But I think we need to just remember that,
you know, buy security. It's not a wall, it's a net.
(02:24):
And you know, we do pretty well at capturing most
things before they establish in New Zealand, but every so
often something like this gets in it and it requires
a response and potentially something ongoing. So you know, we
can't spend all the money trying to keep things out.
(02:45):
We can, we can capture as much as we.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Can because they also thrive on flies, bees, And did
I say at wasps? So wasps do have the encryptonite
after all?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, yeah, I guess you could look at the silver
lie However, you know, yeah, that they're pretty nasty and
apparently if you do approach them will make them angry.
They can give you quite a nasty thing as well.
So yeah, I mean, given all the reasons, I think
it's best if we can try and get rid of
these things.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yeah, so what's the major difference between a hornet nest
and a wast nest?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Right? So, I'm actually looking at the NPI website right now,
and I encourage people if they are interested in this
to go to the NPI website because there's some great
photos on there. And yeah, these things they can create
a nest apparently as large as eighty centimeters tool, which
(03:43):
if you think about that, that that's quite a big nest.
But what they've been finding is these these smaller nests
are what they call an embryo or primary nest that
the queens build themselves. And that's about the size of
a tennis ball, and they sort of hang from a
tree branch or under the eaves of houses or sheds.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
So very similar to the way that wasps established, too.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Similar to the paper wasp, and I think what we
have been hearing is a lot of I wouldn't say
false reports, befo. I'd say, you know, a bit of
mistaken identity where people are reporting to MPI that they
think they've got them and it does turn out to
be a paper wasp. But I certainly encourage people to
(04:35):
keep reporting because every one of these nests that we
find is really significant.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Same question again, how do you differentiate between a wasp
and a hornet?
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Right? The main thing is the size. So these hornets
they are about up to about an inch long or
two and a half centimeters long, whereas your standard, your
German wasp is a lot slimmer and shorter. And then
when you get down to your paper wasps, they're only
(05:07):
about half the size of these hornets. So they're significantly
large insect by you know, relatively, And so yeah, that's
that's the number one thing. Really, But if you go
on to the MPI website, you'll be able to see
a really good close up photo with some really good
distinguishing features that will help you identify them.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
But the main thing to remember at the moment this
has only been found in the Auckland region. We're just
giving people an indication if they see something out of
the ordinary down here, then there's a possibility perhaps and
that sort is that it could be your hornet.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Absolutely. You know, we're in the response phase in Auckland,
specifically on the north shore, but for the rest of
the country. You know, we're really asking for people to
get out and if they see something unusual, do let
us know or do let emp I know, because you know,
we want to make sure that we can contain this
(06:05):
and then and then try and eradicate it from where
it is.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Well, Holiday, thanks very much, you had time on the
muster and here is hoping we keep this pest where
it belongs.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Absolutely, Andy, pleasure to talk to you. We'll catch you,
lader mate.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Well.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Holiday out of beef and lamb. So once again, the
yellow legged hornet, it's bigger than a wasp. And will
just make this clear. It hasn't been found in the
South Island yet, only up in thew Auckland region. It's
certainly something to look out for. Do you think or hornets?
What if you got You've got the what was it
the Bill Cosby Show back in the day? It was
a show within a show fed Albert in the Gang
(06:41):
the Brown Hornet back in the early eighties for those
that remember that right, and Charlotte hornets in the NBA.
Apart from that, kind of an unknown quality but nonetheless
as well. I'll go to beeflamenz dot com to get
the inbox and do you get the e Diary into
your inbox? Friday Mornings. Warren Ross is up next aout
me at my naming the King
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