Looks Like the U.S. Might Have ‘Murder Hornets’ Now?

Pest Control Services Temecula 

As the death toll from the COVID-19 continues to climb and a bunch of people finding themselves struggling to pay bills amid growing economic uncertainty, a new danger may be buzzing on the horizon.

Namely, Asian Giant Hornet called murder hornets.

Word out of Washington State is that the insect, 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” because they’re, well, kind of kill people!

“They’re like something out of a monster movie with its 2-inch body and huge yellow-orange face,” 

These hornets are the world’s largest. Though they aren’t aggressive to humans unless their nests are disturbed, their stings are venomous enough to kill someone who gets stung multiple times. These hornets kill over 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 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.”

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