Prefects can order hornet destruction

Hornets eat bees and bee deaths have soared from 5% to 30%, vastly reducing honey production, but there has been no legal framework allowing nest destruction.

Beekepers could not touch hornet nests on private land that were killing their bees while landowners were dependent on help from beekeepers or costly pest control companies.
Now, the Environment Min­is­try is preparing an order to give prefects the powers and the means to destroy nests. It still has to be approved but will allow landowners and beekeepers to contact the prefecture for action. Some councils, such as Alpes-Maritimes, had taken it upon themselves to destroy nests while others left it to the beekeepers and landowners.

Hornets build nests in spring but while this is the best time to destroy them, the rugby ball-shaped nests are not easily seen in the foliage. They are easier to spot in winter, but are empty.
Beekeepers have taken to calling in hunters to blast nests but traps have become increasingly effective in catching the queens.