The ag industry in Washington state is preparing for another season of murder hornets.
They get their nickname because they can wipe out entire hives of honey bees. The state ag department will set about a thousand traps this year in its quest to eradicate the Asian giant hornet. Those traps will be set where nests were first found in 2019, and will help determine where other nests might be.
Entomologists are hopeful they are making progress.
“We’ve identified a biology and a behavior that we know is going on here, and then we can use that to our advantage. That, to me, is progress. And, to me, after what we saw with a different hornet being introduced in Europe and spreading to multiple nations in three to four years, I think we’re doing pretty well, right now.”
The Asian giant hornet will be considered completely eradicated after three years of no detection.
Related:
Washington’s Dept. of Ag is on the lookout for murder hornets
Dead murder hornet near Seattle is first found in U.S. in 2021
Scientists work to prevent murder hornets from establishing homes in North America
