State of Washington to Set Up 1,000 Traps Against Giant ‘Murder’ Hornets

Washington State Department Of Agriculture Sets Traps For Asian Giant Hornets

BELLINGHAM, WA - JULY 29: Jenni Cena, pest biologist and trapping supervisor from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), holds a dead Asian Giant Hornet, also known as a murder hornet, as a sample specimen from Japan on July 29, 2020 in Bellingham, Washington. Asian giant hornets attack and destroy honeybee hives. Once established, its feared the Asian Giant Hornet could have negative impacts on the environment, economy, and public health. WSDA currently has 442 traps throughout the state. To date, five Asian Giant Hornets have been found in Washington state, all by public citizens in Whatcom County.
(Photo : Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

In a quest to eradicate the invasive species, the Department of Agriculture in the state of Washington sets about 1,000 traps against giant 'murder' hornets.

First detected in the Pacific Northwest state in 2019, murder hornets have been killing other bee and hornet species, while an average of 62 people die every year in the United States from hornet stings. In an effort to 'wipe out' the world's largest hornets in the state, scientists will set 1,000 traps on the Canadian border north of Seattle where they are believed to have nested, USA Today reports.

"We are doing pretty good right now," said Sven-Erik Spichiger, WSDA managing entomologist, and leads the state Department of Agriculture to eradicate giant hornets. "We know about where the nests are located in Whatcom County."

It's a Trap

Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) is the world's largest species of hornet, that are feared to establish itself in the United States and destroy bee populations. Between 2020 and 2021, both Washington and Canada have had confirmed sightings of the hornets. By the end 2021, WSDA had located and eradicated four Asian giant hornet nests in Whatcom County, according to WSDA.

While there have been no confirmed reports of Asian giant hornet nests so far this year, Spichiger said that they will be setting up most of the traps in northern Whatcom County, but a few will be set in the city of Bellingham. Residents are also encouraged to set their own to "cover more ground".

In Japan, where murder hornets are most common and lethal, the hornets kill up to 30 to 50 people a year. Now that they have arrived in the United States, the agency will not consider them eradicated until they had gone three full years with no detections.

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Not a Chance for the Apex Predator

Now, the battle to prevent foothold of Asian giant hornet in North America is focused mostly in Whatcom County, Washington, and the nearby Fraser Valley of British Columbia.

An effort to eradicate the species from the root is also underway by finding exactly where in Asia these hornets are located, and how they got across the Pacific Ocean. Officials have theorized that they are crossing on cargo ships.

Last year, Entomologists had eradicated the first Asian giant 'murder' hornet nest found burrowed in the base of an alder tree, the Smithsonian magazine wrote.

"While we are glad to have found and eradicated this nest so early in the season, this detection proves how important public reporting continues to be," Spichiger once said in a statement. "We expect there are more nests out there and, like this one, we hope to find them before they can produce new queens. Your report may be the one that leads us to a nest."

According to him, the queens tend to emerge from winter quarters in the spring and establish nests to birth worker hornets. A small group can kill an entire colony of honey bee hive in a matter of hours, affecting Washington's multibillion-dollar agriculture industry.