Asian hornet kills again in Galicia, Spain: brush clearing turns deadly

The Asian hornet kills again during brush clearing, and Galicia still can't stop it

A 56-year-old man died on Wednesday, October 21, in Seadur, in the Valdeorras district of Ourense, after hornets got inside the veil of his protective suit and attacked his face and neck while he was clearing a forest track alongside colleagues from the Larouco employment workshop. A resident of Manzaneda originally from Pontevedra, he had lived in the area for years. His coworkers called 061, the emergency number. He didn't make it.

The incident is not an isolated accident that can be written off as bad luck. It is the latest chapter of an invasion that entered Galicia in 2012 and has already turned the region into the part of Spain hardest hit by the velutina hornet. Autumn, contrary to what the manual said, has become one of the most dangerous seasons: last year, in less than two weeks, three men died in Galicia from stings of this species. The Xunta (Galicia's regional government) admitted at the time to an "extraordinary increase" despite its control campaigns. The pattern repeats itself, and the official story still doesn't add up with the numbers.

Why autumn has become the Asian hornet's season

The critical period, thought to be over by September, has stretched well into autumn. Last year's cluster of deaths —three in under fifteen days— caught everyone off guard, because neither the season nor the accumulation was considered normal. The explanation going around is simple: the velutina thrives as long as it finds food and warmth, and Galicia's mild, humid climate suits it perfectly.

The presence is so disproportionate that in many Galician districts there are now more Asian hornets than native ones. The removal of thousands of nests has become a constant drip of news that creates an uncomfortable feeling: that the authorities are always one step behind the insect. Some argue the campaigns are just window dressing; the counterargument is that without them the disaster would be even worse. Nobody puts a figure on what it would cost to win this war.

Ground nests and the brush cutter: the danger you can't see

The Seadur case illustrates a specific danger many rural workers know first-hand: the velutina doesn't always hang from a branch. It nests in the ground, in hollow stumps, in sheds, porches, attics or abandoned houses. If you hit a nest with a brush cutter, the reaction is a swarm. One worker described it this way: he survived because a local warned him; otherwise, "I might not be here to tell it."

Not all stings are the same. Several accounts agree that the initial pain of the velutina is less sharp than that of the common wasp —more like a blow with a knuckle— but the swelling arrives hours later and the lump lingers for days. The problem isn't the discomfort: it's the allergic reaction and the accumulation of stings in a mass attack. Protective gear, as the deceased from Ourense showed, is not foolproof.

The European honey buzzard: the predator that eats Asian hornets

Against the pessimism of those who consider the battle lost, there is one avenue that sparks enthusiasm: the European honey buzzard. This bird of prey bases 90% of its diet on the larvae, pupae and adults of social insects, and is adapted to withstand the fury of beehives. Not through chemical immunity, but through a kind of natural physical armor that blocks stingers. Where there is a velutina nest, it has been claimed, not a single Asian hornet remains within a kilometer.

The enthusiasm has an empirical basis: some have seen a honey buzzard tear half a velutina nest off in a dive, carry it to the ground and eat larvae and hornets without flinching. The proposal making the rounds is as radical as it is debatable: withdraw subsidies from certain organizations and use them to breed these hawks. The cold calculation would say that a natural predator generates no chemical resistance and no pollution. The political calculation, on the other hand, yields no future returns.

Fumigate, stomp or wait for the cold: what actually works

Field experience debunks several urban legends. Household fly insecticides don't knock them down: after a good spraying, the hornets carry on as if nothing peine. Stomping on them takes surprising force; some have crushed them with safety boots only to see them get back up a second later. And the cold is not the salvation some imagine: they withstand temperatures down to -10 or -12 degrees and hide in small nests for months.

What works, based on known cases, is locating the nest and fumigating it from the inside with a stick, or calling in removal services. Destroying the nest is the only definitive victory. Everything else is resistance. Meanwhile, the prevailing feeling is that the authorities are standing by while the battle is lost for lack of resources, not for lack of technical knowledge.

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The question hanging in the air is not how the Seadur worker died, but how many more warnings are needed. The Asian hornet is here to stay, and the risk calendar no longer respects seasons. With nests multiplying and budgets left unspecified, next autumn has every chance of repeating the headline.