Overview
- The Imker-Landesverband Rheinland-Pfalz rebuked comments from SGD representatives and the Kaiserslautern lower conservation authority suggesting the Otterberger Linde nest could remain, urging the competent upper authority to enforce the EU-listed control mandate.
- Association expert Andreas Presuhn cited evidence that queens overwinter protected down to about −12°C, with a single nest producing up to roughly 500 queens and typically yielding three to ten new nests the following year if not removed.
- Presuhn said a coordinated removal program over the past 18 months, targeting active nests before the first persistent frost, delivered the state’s lowest reproduction rates and costs.
- The group warned of wider impacts as nests consume about 11–23 kilograms of insects per season, pollinators avoid foraging near hunting hornets, farm yields can suffer, and beekeepers in affected areas spend an estimated 14–21% of returns on management.
- The association highlighted safety concerns from the species’ stronger nest defense and the risk when occupied nests fall, and it pointed to recent reports from Spain of three sting-related deaths as an example of the public‑health risk.