COAG warns of the "uncontrolled" expansion of the Asian hornet while the beekeeping sector "awaits responses"

"The oriental hornet is spreading uncontrollably while the beekeeping sector awaits answers," has emphasized Pedro Loscertales, responsible for the beekeeping sector of COAG. This exotic invasive species devours bee colonies and threatens both biodiversity and the economy of the beekeeping sector. Therefore, this organization has requested by letter to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Hugo Morán, the urgent convening of a meeting to develop a state strategy for the management, control, and eradication of this species. In March 2022, COAG initiated the first contacts with the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco) when the 'Vespa orientalis' had barely been detected in Valencia, Cádiz, and Málaga. After carrying out "with great effort" all the required documentation, the organization registered the request for inclusion in the Spanish Catalogue of Invasive Exotic Species in June of that year. It was not until May 12, 2025 (almost ...