The Runaway brewery in Stockport has joined forces with the Halifax and District Beekeepers’ Association to launch a beer to help raise awareness of the threat posed by the invasive Asian hornet.

Queen Bees (4 per cent ABV) is a wheat beer made with honey from the Halifax beekeepers, forced Yorkshire rhubarb from the Wakefield Triangle, and ginger root.

It was started on a special brew day back in February by the Crafty Beer Girls, a community of women based in Manchester and London which was looking for a project to mark International Women’s Day.

Meanwhile, Brew Wild, a honey beer project in partnership with Grow Wild UK, had also contacted the brewery with a proposal to produce a beer to raise awareness about the yellow-legged Asian hornet.

Asian hornets are a destructive species that preys on honeybee hives. First discovered in the UK in 2016, the insect has travelled to our shores from northern Europe, with numbers increasing rapidly last year. More Asian hornet nests were discovered here in 2023 than in the previous six years combined.

Efforts are now being made to raise awareness and how to identify and report Asian hornet sightings, as we head into the warmer months.

To aid identification, the labelling, pump clips and beer mats promoting Queen Bees have all been designed to look like the Asian hornet markings and feature the QR code for the Asian Hornet Watch app, so sightings can be reported.

Runaway head brewer Mark Wellsby said: “We have been collaborating with Brew Wild since 2017, helping it design and produce a series of innovative beers brewed to showcase the amazing flavours and aromas of local raw honey.

"As brewers it's a challenge we really enjoy, and it's great to be part of a project that links what we do with issues we care about.

"As well as being delicious, the beers act as a vehicle to stimulate conversation about bees, beekeeping and honey, often with the aim of raising awareness of wider environmental issues and connect with people in a new and unusual way."

The beer is available in cask, keg and bottle: https://www.therunawaybrewery.com/

Latest updates on the Asian hornet can be found on the British Beekeepers’ Association website: https://www.bbka.org.uk/