Malta may have reached a "point of no return" in its battle against Oriental hornets, with much of the country's beekeeping potentially disappearing within the next decade unless stronger action is taken, pest control expert Arnold Sciberras has warned.

Sciberras, founder and co-director of The Exterminator Ltd and a pest management consultant at the company, told The Malta Independent on Sunday that the growth of the hornet population had been evident for several years, yet he believes that insufficient action had been taken at a national level to address the issue on the scale required.

"I think we are at a point of no return. Most of the beekeeping will finish in the next decade. I really don't have that much hope," he said.

Sciberras has worked in pest control for around 25 years and said that pest populations naturally fluctuate according to factors such as drought, heat and the seasons.

More recently, however, changing temperatures have allowed some species to remain active for longer.

Among the main summer pests his company is currently called to deal with are American and German cockroaches, termites, bed bugs and hornets, alongside around another 20 species which can create problems in homes and commercial premises.

Termites, he said, have been increasing each year, while he also suspects that American cockroach numbers are rising, although he is still working to quantify that increase through his ongoing research.

But it is the Oriental hornet which has become the focal point of concern.

Sciberras said there is a perception among some people that the hornet only appeared in Malta very recently, when he has been professionally working to control it since 2012.

"Back then, nobody bothered when I was speaking about how this is going to cause havoc in buildings and also beekeeping," he said.

Sciberras said he has data going back to 2003 showing the hornet in small pockets, while he believes its expansion began around 2012, when he also published his first articles on the subject.

Beekeepers, he said, have increasingly raised concerns over the past five or six years as the impact became more apparent.

Sciberras described 2022 as another particularly problematic year. In 2023 and 2024, efforts were made to target hornet queens, which he said resulted in a drastic decrease in numbers.

However, he said he had repeatedly argued that such efforts needed to be undertaken nationally.

"We've been pushing for this to be on a national scale, but unfortunately, we had no support from any entities," he said.

From the figures available through his own pest control work, Sciberras said the problem has continued to grow, with his company controlling thousands of nests each year, particularly in urban areas.

One factor contributing to the hornet's success, according to Sciberras, is Malta's construction.

"The Oriental hornet population has increased because it goes hand in hand with our type of construction. Construction has been going crazy," he said.

He said newer buildings are not always sufficiently pest-proof, with brickwork, ventilation openings and gaps in buildings providing the ideal places where hornets can establish nests.

He gave the example of openings made for air-conditioning wiring, saying a hole considerably larger than the wire itself can provide an entry point.

"That's a perfect place where the hornets can go in and out and reside," he said.

Unlike many household pests which may primarily be considered a nuisance, Sciberras said hornets can aggressively defend their nests and therefore present a direct danger to people.

Their expansion is also being aided by human behaviour, he said, particularly the availability of rubbish and food left outdoors.

Hornets can feed from rubbish and food left for cats, while the same conditions can benefit other pest species such as American cockroaches and brown rats, he said.

The impact, he believes, goes further than human inconvenience.

Sciberras said an unnaturally large hornet population can place pressure on other wildlife because hornets are predators, as part of their life cycle.

"Hornets are predators in part of their life cycle, and they practically decimate everything, especially if there is this overpopulation," he said.

The threat to bees has become particularly concerning.

The Malta Independent on Sunday told Sciberras about a beekeeper whose apiary had fallen from 15 hives to five, with the beekeeper reporting hornets entering the site and killing bees.

The beekeeper had installed traps as well as technology to monitor the arrival of hornets.

Sciberras said beekeepers are increasingly taking whatever measures they can rather than waiting for a wider intervention.

"Everybody's doing their best," he said, but warned that some homemade methods can also kill beneficial species.

He said he knows beekeepers whose traps catch thousands of hornets in a day yet believes that even this is insufficient to reverse the wider problem.

Still, Sciberras said efforts to protect individual apiaries should continue.

"You have to fight till the end," he said.

One possibility, he said, is placing an apiary inside a large enclosure designed in a way that allows bees to pass through while preventing hornets from entering.

He also recommended surrounding apiaries with specialised, host-specific hornet traps.

"So that they catch only hornets, and not other unwanted species, such as bees," he said.

The bait itself should similarly be targeted towards hornets to reduce the risk of capturing beneficial insects, including other wasp species which he said can also act as pollinators.

Sciberras said the problem should ideally have been tackled much earlier, when hornets were still concentrated in particular areas.

He recalled early records around Floriana, saying hornets initially became established in urban areas before spreading further.

"I always used to tell them, 'Beware because of the bees, because of the bees'," he said.

The situation has now changed considerably, he said, as hornets have expanded into agricultural areas where bee colonies are located.

"For many years, Gozo didn't have a problem. Now Gozo and Comino have a problem."

At this stage, he said, the priority should be to protect as many apiaries as possible by using available technologies, protective enclosures and appropriately designed traps.

He reiterated his warning against indiscriminate methods.

"Do not use simple methods that may harm a lot of other beneficial and sometimes protected species."

Sciberras also believes ordinary residents have a role in reducing hornet numbers.

His first recommendation is to pest-proof homes by ensuring openings and gaps where hornets could establish nests are properly sealed.

Waste should also be properly packed and taken outside at the appropriate collection time rather than being left outside.

People with gardens and balconies can use appropriate traps and, where suitable, products which repel hornets, he said.

However, where a nest is discovered, Sciberras said eradication is advisable because its effects are not necessarily limited to the property where it is situated.

"If you have a nest, it's not affecting only you, but it is also affecting the neighbours around you because they can travel quite a good distance to forage for food and come back to the nest," he said.

He said he knows of residents who cannot comfortably use their balconies because their homes lie between a hornet nest and an area where the insects forage.

Sciberras said he wants the government to provide financial incentives that would make professional control more affordable for households and allow wider interventions in public areas.

"If it costs me X amount of money to give a service; if I have the incentive from the government, I can charge the client much less," he said.

He said similar support could be extended to local councils, allowing them to use measures which his own experiments have shown can reduce hornet numbers in public spaces.

Some councils, he stressed, have already worked with his company on the issue.

"Some local councils did their part, and we are working with them, but again, Malta is such a small island. When there is a problem, in most cases, it is imperative that we take it on a national scale, not just one village," he said.

Sciberras also said he has documented cases of people and animals being badly injured by hornets.

"Some people end up in hospital," he said, adding that infants, elderly people and pets may be particularly vulnerable.

He said he has encountered cases involving cats and dogs suffering severe consequences after being attacked.

Sciberras himself has been hospitalised after being stung while carrying out his work.

Ultimately, he said the response cannot depend solely on pest controllers, individual beekeepers or local councils.

He said he wants government to consult professionals working directly in different fields and coordinate a wider national response.

When it comes to the hornet, Sciberras believes that Malta allowed the problem to develop for far too long.

He warned that the consequences are now being felt not only in homes and urban areas, but also among bee colonies, which he had previously cautioned could eventually come under threat.

"This thing should have been tackled decades ago when we were in the beginning," he said.