The Asian giant hornet, a large insect originally from Asia, has been in the Provence region of France for 15 years. However, its impact on local beekeeping was limited until 2022, according to Jean-Louis Lautard, president of the Syndicat des miels de Provence, which represents 320 beekeeping farms. These hornets can disrupt bee behavior by scaring them away from their hives, which reduces honey production and weakens bee colonies by limiting the queen’s ability to lay eggs. Now, the hornets are spreading widely, and Lautard said, “the hives are dying.” An apiarist reported losing half of an apiary in a week in the Tanneron massif, a mountainous area northwest of Cannes. Since 2020, the Groupement de défense sanitaire de l'abeille, an organization that includes both professional and amateur beekeepers, has seen about 10% of its members leave each year. Its president, Philippe Maure, linked this decline to a sharp drop in the number of active beehives. In response to the growing threat, the French government announced on September 16 a control plan approved by Parliament in 2025. The plan includes trapping hornet queens in spring, destroying nests until autumn, and reducing stress on bees. However, the national budget allocated this year for these efforts is limited to three million euros. In the Alpes-Maritimes region alone, the local government had to spend 1.5 million euros to destroy over 6,400 nests between 2014 and 2024. Due to high costs, the program now only targets nests within 1.5 kilometers of a hive. The Asian giant hornet has become a major challenge for beekeepers, Lautard said, comparing its impact to that of wolves on sheep farming. He noted that the national plan still does not provide financial compensation for beekeepers who suffer losses. “There is still no solution,” he said. “We are facing the threat of a predator that everyone ignores,” he added. The hornet not only harms bees but also threatens biodiversity by feeding on ladybugs, butterflies, grasshoppers, and other insects. Introduced to France in 2004, likely through the importation of Chinese pottery, the hornet is now found in all departments of metropolitan France. It is a major predator of insects, especially domestic bees. In an effort to combat the hornet, beekeepers in Cannes have been experimenting with solutions on a farmland leased by the city under the guidance of the Association for the Development of Provençal Beekeeping (Adapi). Three years ago, they tried strapping nets above the hives, but the hornets destroyed all the hives. This year, they installed electrified wire grids, known as electric harps, near the hives to shock the hornets and deter them from returning. While some hornets still linger around the 30 protected hives, bees are coming and going in large numbers. In the unprotected area, just a few dozen meters away, bees are much rarer, and several hives are entirely overrun by hornets. However, the electric harps cost 50 euros per hive, a significant expense when beekeeping revenues are already declining rapidly. They also require regular maintenance. On Monday, a small animal damaged the wires, rendering half of the harps in the protected area nonfunctional. Meanwhile, the hornets can destroy a hive in just a few days. “There is still no operational and satisfactory solution,” Lautard lamented, calling for more in-depth scientific studies on the hornet. Pascal Jourdan, president of the Adapi, expressed concern about training new beekeepers, noting, “We don't know if we are not sending them to their doom.”