Well, the news is that the Giant Murder Hornets are back despite efforts of keeping them away by authorities. They have survived the winter and have been spotted in Langley, British Columbia on May 15 and confirmed by Canadian Scientists. On May 29, an American entomologist with Washington State Department of Agriculture named Sven Spichiger announced that it is the Asian Giant Hornet or Vespa Mandarinia and it is probably the Queen from the past now attempting to form its own colony.
Why they are named “Killers”?
Well that is bad news for Canadian honeybee, because the Giant Murder Hornets eat them and nourish their young with by feeding the bits and pieces of them. The name “Murder” was tagged to their name because of their penchant for killing honeybees and biting their head off and carrying them to nourish their young. It is also reported that a raiding party comprising of several Murder Hornets can kill thousands of bees from a hive within few hours. The world is already teetering by the onslaught of Corona Virus, and now this is another form of nature’s fury that you have to put up and endure with. This fiery little invader as proclaimed by media is not that apocalyptic but can certainly cause great deal of damage to the honey collection industry.
What is a hornet and why people are terrorized by them?
Hornets are bigger form of predators derived from the Vespa genus and is colony forming. Excepting European V. Crabro, they are totally natives of Asian continent. They hunt for honeybee meat so they can feed their young, contrary to bees that collect pollen to feed theirs. Another special and deadly feature of the Giant Murder Hornet is that it never loses its stinger like honeybee which dies after the stinger is ripped out of its body after one sting. The Asian giant hornet can sting and sting again so it is obvious that people are intimidated by their presence.
How do they look like?
The latest Giant Murder Hornet is listed with 22 species found so far and they are spangled and striped in different borrows and rusts bluish blacks and golden. Several species of hornets have been found in Northern America but they certainly do not belong to giant category. The giant hornet is native of temperate and tropical areas of the Asian continent and prefers to live in forests and mountains. They build their nests by digging or renovating existing tunnels dug by rodents or found to be living near rotting roots of pine trees. These are larger species of hornets and feed on larger insects by target nests, tree saps and honey collected form bee colonies. The giant murder hornet has a body length of 1.8-inch or 45mm and has a wingspan of 3.0 inches or 75 mm. well, that is big! There is more, the stinger measures about 6mm or one-fourth of an inch capable of delivering high potency venom.
Why do giant murder hornets attack honeybees?
They do it in order to raise the next generation of queens towards the end of fall. Faced with short supply of beetles, worker hornets form raider groups and attack bee colonies, yellow jackets and other species of hornets. They kill adults and carry the brood to the queens or larvae that have taken shelter during winter before they start their own colony in summer.
To exterminate giant murder hornets call on the services of BBPP, the Best Bug and Pest Protection in Vaughan.