Looks Like The U.S. Might Have 'Murder Hornets' Now
Hilary Hanson
HuffPostMay 2, 2020, 1:20 PM MST

As the death toll from the coronavirus continues to climb and millions find themselves struggling to pay bills amid growing economic uncertainty, a new danger may be buzzing on the horizon.

Namely, murder hornets.

The New York Times reported Saturday that the insects, actually called Asian giant hornets, could establish themselves in the United States after two were spotted late last year in Washington state. The creatures got the nickname “murder hornets” ? which the Times says was coined by researchers ? because they’re, well, kinda murder-y.

“They’re like something out of a monster cartoon with this huge yellow-orange face,” Susan Cobey, a bee breeder with Washington State University’s Department of Entomology, said in an April news release from the university.
The Asian giant hornet, which has earned the nickname "murder hornet" from some researchers, has a powerful, painful sting and is known for wiping out honey bee hives.

The hornets are the world’s largest and can grow to more than 2 inches long. Though they aren’t usually aggressive to humans unless their nests are disturbed, their stings are venomous enough to kill someone who gets stung multiple times. According to the Times, the hornets kill up to 50 people a year in Japan and folks on the receiving end of the sting have compared it to the feeling of being speared by hot metal.

They’re also devastating to honey bee populations, wiping out hives and partially consuming the occupants. Last November, a beekeeper in Blaine, Washington, was shocked to discover thousands of his bees with their heads ripped off ? the murder hornet’s signature move.

It was never confirmed that hornets were the killers. But the next month, the Washington Department of Agriculture recovered a dead giant hornet from a property near Blaine, The Bellingham Herald reported at the time. The property owner had also spotted a live giant hornet flying around. The nearby town of Custer also had two reports of the big hornets, which WSU noted were unconfirmed but “probable.”
The Asian giant hornet as compared to a human hand in a photo from the Washington State Department of Agriculture. (Photo: Washington State Department of Agriculture)

A few months before the Washington sightings, officials over the border in British Columbia had found and destroyed an Asian giant hornets’ nest.

The hornets’ native range is is eastern and southeast Asia, and it’s not clear how they may have gotten to North America. Scientist fear the hornets could be a major menace to the northwest’s bee populations, causing enormous problems for agriculture and local ecosystems.

Last month, Washington state officials set up dozens of traps meant to capture any giant hornet queens that would be coming out of a long winter of dormancy underground, and said they’d be encouraging people to make homemade bottle traps.

But while officials are enlisting the public’s help in locating the hornets, they’re also encouraging people to be cautious. State entomologist Chris Looney told The Bellingham Herald that anyone who comes across the hornets should remain calm, but nevertheless keep their distance.

“If you encounter these, run away,” he said.

Originally Posted By Scoobysmak:
They have immigrated to the US several times this week.  I have not read the article but where are they located currently and I wonder if we have anything domestic that might solve the problem for us.

Originally Posted By SDMF_Rebel:
I thought those have been here for years?

Originally Posted By okiehunter39:
Are these like the killer bees that were supposed to kill us all a few years back?

Originally Posted By SDMF_Rebel:
I thought those have been here for years?

Originally Posted By ehudbengera:
Finally an acceptable defensive use for shotguns.

Originally Posted By NwG:
I always wonder if the people who describe things feeling like getting stabbed with a red hot poker have in fact be stabbed by a red hot poker?

Originally Posted By Scoobysmak:
They have immigrated to the US several times this week.  I have not read the article but where are they located currently and I wonder if we have anything domestic that might solve the problem for us.

Originally Posted By CJan_NH:

Great point.

Don't you guys have Tarantula Hawks down in Texas? If so, I'd rather have the murder hornets than those winged demons.

Originally Posted By SDMF_Rebel:
I thought those have been here for years?

Originally Posted By WhiskersTheCat:

WTF

Originally Posted By ehudbengera:
Finally an acceptable defensive use for shotguns.

Originally Posted By jagdterrier:
What's the difference between them and the giant hornets that have been here forever? We call them Japanese Hornets, which I do not know if that is correct. They look very similar to the murder hornets pictured

Originally Posted By jagdterrier:
What's the difference between them and the giant hornets that have been here forever? We call them Japanese Hornets, which I do not know if that is correct. They look very similar to the murder hornets pictured

Originally Posted By NwG:
I always wonder if the people who describe things feeling like getting stabbed with a red hot poker have in fact be stabbed by a red hot poker?

Originally Posted By JTHM242:


 I grew up in the Southwest, and having been stung by 2 of the worst, velvet ant and a tarantula hawk.. Yeah there is an immediate and searing pain. literally debilitating, and in the case of the tarantula hawk, which I took right in the neck between the shoulder blades, so painful i couldn't actually process how bad it hurt, all I could do was lay on the ground and cry. It is a burning, searing and deep pain. Luckily the initial pain was over pretty quick, but I was still fucked up for hours afterwords.   I have had deep muffler/ exhaust pipe burns on my calves, and a glowing weld wire actually stab me in the fore arm, and the stings were far more intense.

 But literally being run through with a poker, I doubt it would be that bad.