Murder Hornets

This year has been a crazy one so far. In the beginning, it seemed like World War 3 was on the cusp of beginning. Not too long after, COVID-19 made its entrance. Now the Asian Giant Hornet(Murder Hornets) is beginning to make its way through the U.S.

Rumor has it that they are extremely deadly to humans, so much that a single sting can kill a person. While that is not untrue, it’s also not the whole truth. Yes, the hornets can be deadly to people, however it is not how many are believing right now.

Who Do The Hornets Pose a Real Threat To?

Bees.

While they can kill people, it can likely be contributed to an allergy that the individual had previously. Their sting is also venomous and damages the area of skin that was stung, and also destroys red blood cells. They most definitely can be harmful, however, where they originate from, which is in East Asia, South Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia, and parts of the Russian Far East. In Japan where the hornet has another name(Japanese Giant Hornet), an average of 30 to 50 people died by a sting from a bee, wasp, and or hornet. Many do not even realize that a Asian Giant Hornet was found in Washington back in December. Obviously the story didn’t really pick up traction until now.

We should be cautious, yes, although it’s also good to know that right now we are not in immediate danger from the hornets. Bees on the other hand are the ones in danger. These hornets will invade and destroy bee hives, killing all the bees. After they’re done, the hornets will begin to eat the larvae and pupae. Which for those that aren’t familiar are pretty much bees that aren’t even fully mature.

Sven-Erik Spichiger, and entomologist that works with the Washington State Department of Agriculture said “Six Asian giant hornets can take out 30,000 honeybees in an otherwise healthy hive.”.

What Can We Do?

As of right now, nothing. There are professionals that have been trying to track down these hornets since that emerged back in 2019.

They aren’t immediately aggressive towards humans and animals unless threatened. Killing one yourself would be dangerous because hornets are capable of releasing pheromones that notify the other hornets in the area to attack the threat, and they can each sting you multiple times.

Safe to say that we should leave this one the professionals.

Stay safe and have a good one.

-Sonny