Two Million Hornets

A newcomer to Spain’s Cantabrian mountains contrasts their rich ecology and history of resistance with the damaged, increasingly fragile landscapes of Ireland, where he grew up. Mountain communities have often preserved forms of local self-rule and avoided control by states; Asturias, for example, has traditions of communal resource management and rebellion. The author and his wife moved to “Green Spain” seeking refuge from climate change, but their second summer brought record heat, drought, dried-up springs and wildfires. Even hardy holm oaks are dying, making the land more vulnerable to further fires.

The Asian hornet, an introduced predator that threatens native insects and beekeeping, has also spread in the region, with warmer winters and hotter summers helping it thrive. The author joins a council campaign to trap queens in spring, counting 361 in three garden traps over eight weeks; since a mature nest can contain thousands, this may prevent more than two million hornets from emerging locally. Yet the work leaves him uneasy: the hornets are acting according to their nature, while human activity helped create the conditions for their spread. Meanwhile, residents describe the region as losing its greenness, and climate stress coincides with the decline of traditional farming knowledge, village depopulation and gentrification by holiday-home buyers. The essay considers what it means to settle in a place under threat while also becoming part of its changing ecology.