I suppose the worry is that the queen arrived earlier in the year via a cross-channel ferry say, laid eggs in the primary nest in the Spring / early-Summer and subsequently moved into the larger secondary nest that has just been discovered by the NBU over the weekend. That colony may have developed new queens that managed to mate and some of these could be flying around the area, along with a diminishing band of sterile workers. The NBU's DNA analysis will subsequently identify if the AHs caught and the hive nest contents' DNA is from France / Channel Islands and if they are mated . . . or maybe not. Either way, even if the nest is destroyed, viable mated queens MIGHT still be flying locally and could eventually hibernate and emerge next Spring. Let those of us in Hants. and the West Sussex border keep our eyes open for anything resembling an AH - dead, alive or forraging currently on old fruit, ivy or "castor oil plant" flowers, or even monitoring traps and, if so, report it via the iOS or Android App, just in case.
