The Asian giant hornet is referred to the 'murder hornet' for one single reason, it exposes victims to as much toxins as a poisonous snake. It uses its mandibles to rip off the heads of bees to feed the body to its young. A sting by this giant hornet, being able to grow almost two inches in size, is said to feel like "a burning hot metal rod going through your skin". A youtube channel by the name of Brave Wilderness has a video of the host getting stung by the giant hornet in the name of science if you're interested. Nearly 50 people in Japan yearly die from this monster. Not only that, the worst part that people in the north have to fear is that it appears these hornets can survive in a cooler environment and thru the winter.
This was recently seen in Washington State where a bee keeper saw a massive pile of dead bees on the ground as he pulled up to check up on his hives. So how likely is it that the asian giant hornet was responsible? Although it has not been confirmed as the culprit, 2 of these hornets were spotted in Washington State last fall, near where the first open massacre happened. However, at the time, officials weren't concerned because there were only 2 reports of these hornets and winter was coming so they must surely die off right? This was proven incorrect as recently, hives have been found in Canada. Through genetic analysis, they determined that the hornets that were found in Washington State that fall were different than the ones in Canada, meaning that there is definitely a hive somewhere in Washington State.
To truly investigate this, researchers are trying to catch one of these hornets in a trap and attach a radio-frequency identification tag. This tag would allow researchers to see the location of the hornet at all times so they could see where the nest might be formed. In order to stop colonization, it is essential that the researchers act fast to eliminate all nests and queens. A failure in eliminating these hornets would heavily damage an already low bee population which would mess up the whole ecosystem. With drastic climate changes due to pollution, insects like these will now have a much easier time to colonize places they might have never been able to before.
Thus, it is definitely possible that these insects will spread to different states. Are you afraid of these giant hornets? How would you solve this problem?
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