In the summer of 2004, a bonsai nurseryman in Pinel-Hauterive, a small village in the Lot-et-Garonne region of France, regularly imported pots from China, particularly from Yixing, a renowned pottery town. During this time, a large black wasp with an orange-yellow band was spotted in his garden. This wasp, later identified as the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina), was first officially recorded in the region in 2006 by entomologist Jean Haxaire. The hornet's arrival in France was traced back to a single fertilized queen that had traveled from China in a shipment of pottery. This queen, the only survivor of her original colony after winter, had endured weeks of travel without food or movement, hidden inside a pottery container. She arrived in France via the port of Bordeaux and eventually reached the village of Pinel-Hauterive. Genetic studies conducted in 2021 confirmed that the entire European population of the Asian hornet descends from this one queen. Researchers from University College Cork in Ireland analyzed mitochondrial DNA from hornets in Ireland and compared it to those found across Western Europe. Their findings, published in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research, showed that all European Vespa velutina populations are genetically linked to this original queen, who arrived from China about 15 to 20 years ago. This represents a rare and clear example of a genetic bottleneck, where an entire species' population originates from a single individual. Since its arrival in France, the Asian hornet has spread rapidly, advancing approximately 80 kilometers per year. By 2010, it had reached Spain, and by 2020, it had spread across much of Europe, including Portugal, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The hornet is a significant predator of bees and other insects, and its stationary flight can paralyze bee colonies, preventing them from foraging. Researchers from the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle estimated that a single Asian hornet colony can consume nearly 11 kilograms of insects per season, with domestic bees making up almost 40% of its diet. Efforts to control the hornet have included trapping, but these methods have limitations. Non-selective traps can capture a wide range of insects, including beneficial pollinators, while selective traps, though more targeted, still capture non-targeted species. Some scientists advise against mass trapping of founding queens, as it can disrupt natural competition between queens and may inadvertently aid the survival of others. The most effective and widely accepted method of control remains the destruction of active nests. However, abandoned nests in winter are not worth destroying, as they are no longer functional. Twenty-two years after the arrival of the first queen in Pinel-Hauterive, the battle to control the Asian hornet continues, nest by nest, in an effort to protect Europe's bee populations and ecological balance.