Crews find, kill nest of ‘murder hornets’

Crews vacuum ‘murder hornets’ out of Washington nest

Heavily protected crews worked to destroy the first nest of so-called murder hornets in the U.S.

BLAINE, WASH. » Heavily protected crews in Washington state worked Saturday to destroy the first nest of so-called murder hornets discovered in the United States.

The state Agriculture Department had spent weeks searching, trapping and using dental floss to tie tracking devices to Asian giant hornets, which can deliver painful stings to people and spit venom but are the biggest threat to honeybees that farmers depend on to pollinate crops.

The nest found in the city of Blaine near the Canadian border is about the size of a basketball and contained an estimated 100 to 200 hornets, according to scientists who announced the find Friday.

Crews wearing thick protective suits vacuumed the invasive insects from the cavity of a tree into large canisters Saturday.

The suits prevent the hornets’ 6- millimeterlong stingers from hurting workers, who also wore face shields because the trapped hornets can spit a painful venom into their eyes.

The tree will be cut down to extract newborn hornets and learn if any queens have left the hive already, scientists said. Officials suspect more nests may be in the area and will keep searching. A news briefing was planned Monday on the status of the nest.

Despite their nickname and the hype that has stirred fears in an already bleak year, the world’s largest hornets kill at most a few dozen people a year in Asian countries, and experts say it is probably far less. Meanwhile, hornets, wasps and bees typically found in the United States kill an average of 62 people a year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said.

The real threat from Asian giant hornets — which are 2 inches (5 centimeters) long — is their devastating attacks on honeybees, which are already under siege from problems like mites, diseases, pesticides and loss of food.

The invasive insect is normally found in China, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam and other Asian countries. Washington state and the Canadian province of British Columbia are the only places the hornets have been found on the continent.

The nest was found after the state Agriculture Department trapped some hornets this week and used dental floss to attach radio trackers to some of them.

ELAINE THOMPSON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sven Spichiger, Washington State Department of Agriculture managing entomologist, displays a canister of Asian giant hornets vacuumed Oct. 24from a nest in a tree behind him in Blaine, Wash.

ELAINE THOMPSON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Washington State Department of Agriculture workers, wearing protective suits and working in pre-dawn darkness illuminated with red lamps, vacuum a nest of Asian giant hornets from a tree Oct. 24in Blaine, Wash.

ELAINE THOMPSON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sven Spichiger, Washington State Department of Agriculture managing entomologist, walks with a canister of Asian giant hornets vacuumed from a nest in a tree behind him Oct. 24in Blaine, Wash.

ELAINE THOMPSON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Wearing a protective suit, Washington State Department of Agriculture entomologist Chris Looney fills a tree cavity with carbon dioxide after vacuuming a nest of Asian giant hornets from inside it Oct. 24in Blaine, Wash.

ELAINE THOMPSON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Washington State Department of Agriculture Outreach & Education Specialist Cassie Cichorz is assisted in putting on a protective suite before assisting to eradicate a nest of Asian giant hornets.

ELAINE THOMPSON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Washington State Department of Agriculture entomologist Chris Looney looks at two of the dozens of Asian giant hornets he vacuumed from a nest in a nearby tree Oct. 24in Blaine, Wash.

ELAINE THOMPSON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A Washington State Department of Agriculture worker holds two of the dozens of Asian giant hornets vacuumed from a tree Oct. 24in Blaine, Wash.

KARLA SALP — WASHINGTON DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE VIA AP An Asian Giant Hornet wearing a tracking device is shown Oct. 22near Blaine, Wash.

Right: A Washington State Department of Agriculture worker displays an Asian giant hornet taken from a nest