Bug experts dismiss ‘murder hornets’ worry

Insect experts say people should calm down about the big bug with the nickname “murder hornet” — unless you are a beekeeper or a honeybee.

The Asian giant hornets — they’re 2 inches long — found in Washington state that grabbed headlines last week aren’t big killers of humans, although it does happen on rare occasions.

Numerous bug experts told The Associated Press that what they call hornet “hype” reminds them of the 1970s public scare when Africanized honeybees, nicknamed “killer bees,” started moving north from South America. While these more aggressive bees did make it up to Texas and the Southwest, they didn’t live up to the horror-movie moniker. However, they also do kill people in rare situations.

“They are not ‘murder hornets.’ They are just hornets,” said Washington Agriculture Department entomologist Chris Looney, who is working on the state’s search for these large hornets.

The facts are, experts said, two dead hornets were found in Washington in December, a lone Canadian live nest was found and wiped out in September and no live hornets have yet been seen this year.

“It’s a really nasty sting for humans,” said University of Georgia bee expert Keith Delaplane. “It’s like the Africanized bee ... A dozen [stings] you are OK; 100 not so much.”

Asian giant hornets at most kill a few dozen people a year and some experts said it’s probably far fewer.

Hornet, wasp and bee stings kill on average 62 people a year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“This is 99% media hype and frankly I’m getting tired of it,” said University of Delaware entomologist Doug Tallamy. “Murder hornet? Please.”

Retired University of Montana bee expert Jerry Bromenshenk said in an email, “One nest, one individual hornet, hopefully, does not make an invasion. ... Do we want this hornet — surely not. But the media hype is turbo charged.”

For bees and the people who rely on them for a living this could be yet another massive problem, but it is not one yet.

The number of U.S. honeybees has been dropping for years.

The new hornets would be different. If they get into a hive, they tear the heads off worker bees and the hive pretty much dies.