Anyone who spots an Asian hornet or a nest reports the find from their phone — in under a minute, no account needed. Bait stations nearby show where the hornets fly back to. The local beekeeping association sees both in one place and organises the control work together — and by the end of the season has it on record how things stood across the region and what the association got done.
WHAT IS AT STAKE
An average Asian hornet nest consumes around 11 kg of insects and spiders per season — on the order of more than 90,000 bee-sized prey animals. Large nests reach roughly twice that.
It does not only hit honey bees. A DNA analysis of more than 1,500 hornets found traces of 1,449 species; of the 50 most frequent ones, 43 were flower visitors and pollinators — wild bees, bumblebees, hoverflies.
That is why how quickly a nest is found matters. Not whether.
Sources: Rome et al. 2021 (16 nests over three years) · Pedersen et al. 2025
THE PATHS
Sometimes the nest hangs in plain sight. More often, many single sightings or a bait station put you on the trail. All three paths feed into the same shared process.
Many single sightings
Take a photo, confirm the location, send — with HornetLog in under a minute, no account needed.
Hivora collects the region's sightings on a map, condenses them into a heatmap and uses AI to work out the areas worth searching.
Bait stations & triangulation
A camera module retrofits the classic wick bait pot: Hivora Sense recognises right at the pot what flies in.
A marked hornet flies to the nest and comes back. Departure bearing and return time narrow down where it stands — the well-known triangulation method. Hivora Sense records both, so nobody has to wait it out at the pot for hours.
The nest found directly
In a tree, under the eaves, in a hedge. No bait stations needed — the nest can be reported right away.
However it was found: the report goes through the app or the form on the association's website. It lands in the region's shared pool.
A beekeeper from the region accepts it — visible to everyone else, so two people don't drive to the same address.
When, by whom, with what outcome. Still traceable a year later.
Someone with a nest in their garden is not looking for Hivora. They are looking for someone who helps. Through HornetLog they find you.
You build your own reporting form and embed it on your association's website. What comes in through it does not sit in a private inbox — it sits in the region's shared pool, visible to everyone.
What that changes
The work no longer hangs on the two people who always do everything. Whoever takes a report on is visible to the others. And when somebody asks in winter what happened last season, it is written down.
A Hivora Sense is a camera module for the classic wick bait pot. It recognises directly on the device what arrives, and keeps a record — even without internet.
For you that means: no more driving out to twelve pots every day just to see whether anything happened.
What you need
A board for around €12–25, a USB-C cable, a microSD card and a specimen cup from the pharmacy. €30–40 all together. No soldering. Power comes from a power bank or a socket at the apiary. The housing comes off a 3D printer — the files are free, and without a printer of your own a makerspace or your association will have one. You flash the software straight from the browser, no programming needed.
The honest part
Right now you assemble the station yourself — there is no finished device to buy yet. And the detection keeps getting better: it gives you a pointer, not a determination.
"Hivora Sense saves us a lot of legwork..."
THREE BUILDING BLOCKS
Hivora consists of three building blocks that interlock — each also works on its own.
For everyone who reports — and everyone who works outside
Report a sighting in seconds and follow its status — deliberately no account required for the first report. In the field, the app connects Hivora Sense stations, syncs their data and shows images offline right on site.
More about HornetLogFor associations, local groups and federations
This is where app reports, station events and nest data come together: maps, statistics, hotspots, nest management and forecasts — with roles and permissions for working together in an association or federation.
More about Hivora platformFor everyone who observes continuously
A camera module extends the classic wick bait pot: Hivora Sense recognises directly on the device what arrives at the pot, documents it locally and is synced later via the HornetLog app — over Wi-Fi or fully offline with an SD card.
More about Hivora SensePILOT PARTNERS
Hivora is built together with beekeepers and associations in the Aachen region. Everything we build is tested in real-world use every day.
Beekeeping federation
Association
FUNDED BY
State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Programme „Digital in die Zukunft – engagiert mit KI und Co“
Hivora is developed together with beekeepers, associations and federations. Feedback flows directly into the next versions.
AI suggestions are hints, not diagnoses. Decisions about reports, nests and actions are always made by humans.
We only collect the data that is actually needed for a report. Hosting in Europe, GDPR-compliant.
Hivora supports official reporting channels and can prepare data for them in a structured way. It does not replace them.
From reporting for free to covering a whole region. Four tiers that build on one another.
All paid tiers are free until the end of 2026.
Report sightings for free, follow their status and become part of the region's shared pool.
For active observers and beekeepers: use Hivora Sense stations, sync via the app and analyse your own statistics.
For beekeeping associations, local chapters and initiatives: shared analytics, nest management and regional statistics — with members on board.
For larger organisations with their own processes: nest management, analytics, reports and interfaces as agreed.
What it costs
€3.99 a month. Less than a jar of honey.
It funds better detection models — with the goal of making bycatch avoidable.
What we are working onHivora Sense observes. It catches nothing and kills nothing.
The supporter contribution funds the further development of the detection models. The goal behind it: to tell the Asian hornet and native species apart reliably enough that bycatch becomes avoidable. That is exactly the main criticism of today's traps — and the precondition for being able to build a selective one at all.
Today we are collecting the data for that. Nothing more. There is no date, no pre-order and no promised hardware. A subscription is support, not a stake.
Frequently asked questions
Hivora is a system of tools for coordinating, documenting and removing nests of the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina). It consists of the HornetLog app for reporting, the Hivora Sense digital monitoring bait stations and a platform on which associations, federations and organisations organise the region's shared pool.
HornetLog is the free app in the Hivora system. It lets you report an Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) in seconds with a photo and location – the first report without any account. In the field, the app also pairs with the Hivora Sense bait stations and retrieves their recordings.
Hivora Sense is a digital monitoring bait station: a camera module with on-device AI that extends the classic wick-based bait pot and autonomously detects and documents Asian hornet activity at the pot. Analysis runs directly on the device, and recordings are synced via the HornetLog app.
Hivora is the overall system and the platform for the region's shared pool. HornetLog is the app for reporting and for work in the field. Hivora Sense is the digital monitoring bait station for continuous observation. App, bait station and platform work together, but can also be used on their own.
Yes. Besides sightings, nests can also be reported – via the HornetLog app or through reporting forms that associations and federations embed on their own website. Nest reports come together in a structured way on the platform, where participating associations can take them on and coordinate further steps.
Yes. Associations and organizations can embed Hivora reporting forms as a web component via JavaScript on their own website. Sightings and nest reports flow straight into the platform as tickets – alongside app reports and bait-station detections.
Yes. Sightings and nest reports can be exported – for documentation, analysis and sharing, for example as a basis for official reporting channels. This keeps the collected data usable instead of scattered across individual inboxes.
Yes. Participating associations and organizations can be made visible by region, so it becomes clear where activity is already underway. Taking part does not automatically imply official responsibility – it makes engagement visible and supports coordination.
Yes. The AI analysis runs directly on the device, so Hivora Sense works completely offline. Recordings are synced later via the HornetLog app – either over Wi-Fi or offline via SD card.
No. Hivora Sense is a monitoring bait station: a camera module that documents what arrives at the pot. It catches and kills no animals. What we are working on is something else — a separate, future device that could trigger selectively based on the detection, in order to avoid bycatch. Today we are only collecting the data for that. Hivora Sense remains an observation device.
Hivora Sense documents activity at the bait station and can help observe recurring animals – for example marked hornets and their return to the pot. This provides clues for further observation, but does not replace expert assessment.
Hivora is an independent platform that supports structured recording, coordination and analysis. It is not an official reporting system everywhere. However, recorded sightings and nest reports can be exported and prepared for official reporting channels.
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