The Washington Department of Agriculture destroyed the first nest of Murder hornets Found in the US on Saturday.
The nest of the Asian giant hornets - nicknamed murder hornets for their practice of killing large numbers of bees - was the size of a basketball and contained nearly 100 hornets. Wear thick protective suitswho have favourited WSDA Nest Elimination Crew sucked the hornets from the tree into large canisters.
In particular, 85 hornets were sucked from the nest and a further 13 live hornets were collected for research using a net, the WSDA announced on Monday. The tree in which the nest was found is felled to destroy newborn hornets and to see if any of the hornet queens have left the beehive.
"The extermination went very smoothly, although our original plan had to be adjusted because the nest was in a tree and not in the ground," said senior entomologist Sven Spichiger on Monday. "This is certainly a boost in morale, but this is just the beginning of our work to hopefully prevent the Asian giant hornet from gaining a foothold in the Pacific Northwest. We suspect there are more nests in Whatcom County."
Entomologists originally discovered the nest in a tree hollow near Blaine, Washington, after capturing, tagging, and tracking a live giant Asian hornet back to its nest.
Even if you were sucked out of bed on Saturday, you couldn't stop these tough ladies. The post-eradication count showed that all 85 #AsianGiantHornets were still alive later that day on Saturday.
No you can't have one. The specimens will research. 😁 pic.twitter.com/nm3QyatcAp
- WA St Dept of Agr (@WSDAgov) October 26, 2020
The successful discovery of a nest came after a WSDA trapper collected two live murder hornets on Wednesday that were trapped in a new type of trap the agency set in the area. Two other live hornets were found on Thursday, the same day that WSDA staff were found in another trap marked the previously caught hornets with radio trackers and could follow you back to your nest.
Entomologists discovered the nest of the murder hornets in the hollow of a tree on private land. While murder hornets usually nest in the ground, they sometimes nest in dead trees. Dozens of the murder hornets were spotted around the tree.
The WSDA was active looking for murder hornet nests then the insects appeared for the first time. The first confirmed discovery of a giant Asian hornet in Washington was in December 2019, and the first hornet was caught in July of that year.
Asian giant hornets are a dangerous invasive pest that is not native to the United States, but they are the largest hornet in the world, as well as a predator of honeybees and other insects.
A small group of murder hornets may kill a whole beehive within hours.
Entomologists and citizen scientists have carefully followed the hornet's sightings to find nests to clear up. The WSDA urges people to continue to report further sightings of Asian giant hornets immediately.
