Asian hornets display predatory behaviour, including hawking in which they hover near hives.
Mr Williamson, a County Armagh beekeeper, said this behaviour typically takes place from mid to late summer and can prevent bees from foraging, causing them to starve.
“Beekeepers are worried and quite rightly so, because while it starts to hawk at hives, bees would sit at the hives and not come in and out,” he said.
“So they’ll not get their honey and they’ll not pollinate.
“It’s more the environment that will be affected if bees aren’t able to take part in the pollination of a lot of our hedgerows and trees that maybe aren’t farmed by humans, but they are good sources for other birds and insects out there.”
