Why and how did the United States eradicate ‘murder hornets’?

The species poses a significant threat to insects and native pollinators. ‘Murder hornets’ can kill an entire beehive of honeybees in just 90 minutes.

“The hornets can enter a ‘slaughter phase’ where they kill entire hives by decapitating the bees. The hornets then defend the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young,” according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture. “They also attack other insects but are not known to destroy entire colonies of those insects.”

Northern giant hornets can sting through most beekeeper suits, delivering almost seven times the amount of venom as a honey bee. Moreover, they have the ability to sting multiple times.

How did the US eradicate ‘murder hornets’?

State, federal, and international government agencies joined forces to eradicate northern giant hornets in the US.

The first task was to find the nests of hornets. This was a challenge as hornets usually build their nests in forested areas, often in an underground cavity, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

“In some cases, entomologists captured a live hornet, attached a radio tag to it, released it, and tracked the hornet back to its nest,” a report by CBS News said.

After locating a nest in a tree, entomologists “plugged the nest with foam, wrapped the tree in plastic and vacuumed out the hornets” the report said. They also used carbon dioxide to kill any of the remaining hornets.

The public participated in the process by helping entomologists track down hornet nests, and agreeing to place traps at their residences.

Dr Mark Davidson, deputy administrator at USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said in a statement, “By tackling this threat head-on, we protected not only pollinators and crops, but also the industries, communities, and ecosystems that depend on them.”

The eradication, however, does not mean that the hornet cannot return to the United States.