Panic Over 'Murder Hornets' Has Led People To Slaughter Bees

Fears over the spread of the infamous giant hornet have led to the unnecessary killing of native bees and wasps in the US.

The dangerous critter, known as the 'murder hornet', is native to southeast Asia, can grow to two inches long and is capable of wiping out entire colonies of honeybees, and could even kill humans with its large sting.

However, reports in the States claim that sightings of two hornets have caused panic, with the future of the much-needed honeybee now in the balance.

Speaking to the LA Times, Doug Yanega, senior museum scientist for the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside, said experts in Asia can't believe what is happening in the US.

He said: "Millions and millions of innocent native insects are going to die as a result of this.

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"Folks in China, Korea and Japan have lived side by side with these hornets for hundreds of years, and it has not caused the collapse of human society there.

"My colleagues in Japan, China and Korea are just rolling their eyes in disbelief at what kind of snowflakes we are."

This warning comes a few months after a beekeeper in Washington found to his horror that his entire hive of bees had been slaughtered, their heads torn from their bodies.

Shortly after this, sightings were reported of two giant hornets, with experts urging people to leave out traps.

The issue is that the traps people have been setting, orange juice and rice cooking wine, are also hugely attractive to lots of native insects that are needed, including bees and wasps.

And though people might not think twice about killing these insects, Yanega says: "They eat several times their weight in caterpillars from people's vegetable gardens and ornamental plants, so indiscriminately killing them does much more harm than good."

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And what's more, time is running out to catch the killer hornets. It's believed that at least two of them made it over to the US on a cargo ship of some sort which, if correct, would be the first known crossover in decades.

This, Yanega says, is why it's so important to find the hornets now. Unlike other bees, with giant hornets it is the queen that starts a hive by herself, however, she won't create a new queen until the autumn.

He said: "Queens have to go all the way from April to September before they can have their own reproductive offspring.

"If we can intercept them any time in between there, we can kill them, and that's that."

Topics: Interesting, US News

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

@SmithersDom