What You Need to Know About the Asian "Murder Hornet"
Since some of these insects have been spotted here in America, I thought this was the perfect time to learn about them. So do they live up to the hype? The truth is nothing is really as scary as it seems at first and the Asian "Murder Hornets" are no different. By the way, the first thing that you need to know about these insects is their actual and less terrifying name, the Asian giant hornet or if you wanted to be really fancy the Vespa mandarinia.
Their Sting
A solitary sting from an Asian giant hornet probably won't kill you unless you have some sort of allergy. The real danger would be if you were stung multiple times which is unlikely unless you disturbed a hive as these bugs aren't normally aggressive unless provoked. In fact, yearly more people die from bee stings. In the US alone there 60 to 80 deaths resulting from reactions to bee stings each year, while in Asia (mostly in Japan) only about 50 people die every year from reactions having to do with stings from these hornets.
Now unfortunately I can't ease your mind about the pain you would feel if stung by one of these bad boys. These hornets have quarter-inch stingers that can pierce through beekeeper suits. Ouch!
Their Threat to Our Bees
There is some threat to bees, and this is mostly due to the fact that the bees in America are European. That might sound weird at first, but let me explain. When an Asian giant hornet finds a honeybee hive they release a pheromone to let their comrades know so that they can attack. This next part is where the difference between European and Asian honeybees becomes apparent. Asian honeybees will wait until the hornet enters the nest, and will then swarm it while vibrating their wings. This defensive plan works in two ways, it heats up the inside of the hive, and builds up the carbon dioxide. This won't hurt the bees, but the hornets will be both suffocated and toasty. The only real danger for Asian honeybees is if too many hornets respond to the call, and they are completely overrun. European honeybees are far gentler and don't have the natural instincts to fight the hornets off.
The Plan to Keep Them Out
Since there haven't been very many reports of these insects in the United States yet, and these sightings have been mostly located in Washington the threat is still manageable at this point as long as we take care of it in the next few years. The hornets hibernate during the winter, and have only in April begun to come out again. And researchers have been setting up traps in Washington so that when the hornets start moving again their hives can be found and taken care of quickly.
I hope you enjoyed this post, it was my first crack ;) at myth busting. And as a tip from me to you, if you really want to stay away from these bugs, then make sure to look down since their hives are generally located underground.
Their Sting
A solitary sting from an Asian giant hornet probably won't kill you unless you have some sort of allergy. The real danger would be if you were stung multiple times which is unlikely unless you disturbed a hive as these bugs aren't normally aggressive unless provoked. In fact, yearly more people die from bee stings. In the US alone there 60 to 80 deaths resulting from reactions to bee stings each year, while in Asia (mostly in Japan) only about 50 people die every year from reactions having to do with stings from these hornets.
Now unfortunately I can't ease your mind about the pain you would feel if stung by one of these bad boys. These hornets have quarter-inch stingers that can pierce through beekeeper suits. Ouch!
Their Threat to Our Bees
There is some threat to bees, and this is mostly due to the fact that the bees in America are European. That might sound weird at first, but let me explain. When an Asian giant hornet finds a honeybee hive they release a pheromone to let their comrades know so that they can attack. This next part is where the difference between European and Asian honeybees becomes apparent. Asian honeybees will wait until the hornet enters the nest, and will then swarm it while vibrating their wings. This defensive plan works in two ways, it heats up the inside of the hive, and builds up the carbon dioxide. This won't hurt the bees, but the hornets will be both suffocated and toasty. The only real danger for Asian honeybees is if too many hornets respond to the call, and they are completely overrun. European honeybees are far gentler and don't have the natural instincts to fight the hornets off.
The Plan to Keep Them Out
Since there haven't been very many reports of these insects in the United States yet, and these sightings have been mostly located in Washington the threat is still manageable at this point as long as we take care of it in the next few years. The hornets hibernate during the winter, and have only in April begun to come out again. And researchers have been setting up traps in Washington so that when the hornets start moving again their hives can be found and taken care of quickly.
I hope you enjoyed this post, it was my first crack ;) at myth busting. And as a tip from me to you, if you really want to stay away from these bugs, then make sure to look down since their hives are generally located underground.
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