"Murder hornets" have now entered the U.S.

[Still Waters 54,844]

A roughly two-inch long insect known as the "murder hornet" has made its way to the U.S. for the first time ever, researchers said. The Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, has been known to kill up to 50 people a year in Japan, according to The New York Times, and has the potential to devastate U.S. bee populations, which have already been declining. 

Susan Cobey, bee breeder with Washington State University's Department of Entomology, told WSU Insider that the hornets are "like something out of a monster cartoon with this huge yellow-orange face."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/murder-hornets-have-now-entered-the-u-s-and-they-could-decimate-the-honeybee-population/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/us/asian-giant-hornet-washington.html?

[acute 71,965]

Quote

The Asian giant hornet is often confused with the yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina), also known as the Asian hornet, an invasive species of major concern across Europe, including the UK.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet

[freetoroam 40,851]

They have been in Europe since 2005

Quote

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/environment/asian-hornet-invasive-species-hamburg-germany-bees-extinction-climate-a9322176.html%3famp

They are a threat to bees, aswell as being b*****s to squash.

[Still Waters 54,844]

10 minutes ago, freetoroam said:

They have been in Europe since 2005

We have a thread about that:

 

[MysteryMike 252]

Jesus Christ. What is up with this year. What's next in June? The magnetic poles flipping? Dragons emerging from underground setting the world ablaze on fire?

Good thing where I live in Canada its too cold for them to survive. Coronavirus is jack compared to this.

[GlitterRose 26,643]

Oh great. One more disastrous thing to worry about. 

I do NOT want giant hornets. No thank you.

[MysteryMike 252]

38 minutes ago, Tuco's Gas said:

Another potentially fatal bug from Asia.

Chances are they probably got here through stowawaying on cargo ships.

[acute 71,965]

2 hours ago, GlitterRose said:

I do NOT want giant hornets. No thank you.

I don't think it's the type of thing you can opt out of.

[acute 71,965]

1 hour ago, MysteryMike said:

stowawaying

[Passing through 86]

Saw two of these while working in the SW of England, workmate squashed one with a hammer, reported the sighting and location as is encouraged, gon;t know if they followed up on it. Those things are nasty.

[spartan max2 19,713]

4 hours ago, MysteryMike said:

Jesus Christ. What is up with this year. What's next in June? The magnetic poles flipping? Dragons emerging from underground setting the world ablaze on fire?

Good thing where I live in Canada its too cold for them to survive. Coronavirus is jack compared to this.

There's a wave of locust screwing up East Africa right now. To add to the list.

[Princess Serenity 2,338]

Kill it with fire!!!!!!

[SpaceBumZaphod 74]

Murder Hornet. Sounds like a great name for a death metal band.

[SpaceBumZaphod 74]

10 hours ago, MysteryMike said:

Chances are they probably got here through stowawaying on cargo ships.

Actually, people were ordering them from Japan back in the early 2000s to keep as pets FGS. And, some of them escaped. It's illegal now to import them.

[pallidin 11,108]

9 hours ago, Princess Serenity said:

Kill it with fire!!!!!!

That is one effective eradication method.

Be careful, though.

[openozy 3,216]

I nearly got killed by a 1cm long paper wasp,these ones sound like you need a .410 with bird shot,lol.

[the13bats 14,627]

Money shot just past 11:20

[Imaginarynumber1 22,821]

40 minutes ago, the13bats said:

Money shot just past 11:20

That was good. I liked the part where he was in excruciating pain. 

[the13bats 14,627]

1 hour ago, Imaginarynumber1 said:

That was good. I liked the part where he was in excruciating pain. 

He has videos of him letting all kinds of nasties sting him,

I have to wonder if hes related to joe exotic.

[Robotic Jew 5,668]

Murder Hornets would be a great softball team name. 

[spartan max2 19,713]

I read an article the other day explaining that in Japan honey bees adapted to fight back by surrounding the wasps and vibrating to heat it to death.

But in the states our honey bees have never expierences this predator before so they do not know how to do that. Our honey bees try to sting it but it does not penitrate the wasps exoskeleton.

Edited May 4, 2020 by spartan max2

[Robotic Jew 5,668]

2 hours ago, spartan max2 said:

I read an article the other day explaining that in Japan honey bees adapted to fight back by surrounding the wasps and vibrating to heat it to death.

But in the states our honey bees have never expierences this predator before so they do not know how to do that. Our honey bees try to sting it but it does not penitrate the wasps exoskeleton.

We need to arm our honeybees with tiny guns. 

[spartan max2 19,713]

6 minutes ago, Robotic Jew said:

We need to arm our honeybees with tiny guns. 

Give them some steel plated stingers haha.

Edited May 4, 2020 by spartan max2

[Hankenhunter 9,795]

One would think that the Africanized bees will succumb to the giant hornets also. Probably the best way to protect your hives would be to cover them in wire mesh that will allow the bees with pollen to slip through and not the hornets. The massacres normally happen right on the bees front porch as the bees boil out, then they are chopped to shreds. A foot of clearance on each side of the hive should do the trick and stymie the hornets. I don't know if anyone actually does this, but it should work.

[Still Waters 54,844]

Related:

Quote

Panicked over ‘murder hornets,’ people are killing native bees we desperately need

https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2020-05-08/panicked-over-murder-hornets-people-are-killing-the-native-bees-we-desperately-need