Washington officials would’ve really liked to say, “off with her head” … as it relates to the queen bee hornet in that nest they destroyed … but, sadly, they can’t just yet.
The Washington State Department of Agriculture has confirmed their team from the Pest Program who ventured into the woods this weekend did NOT retrieve the mother of the hive — the queen remains in the tree as far as they can tell … implication being, she’s alive.
The officials who found and destroyed the nest in Washington state revealed that they did not capture the queen murder hornet. @KaynaWhitworth reports. https://t.co/b7aFWiEfr3
— Good Morning America (@GMA) October 27, 2020
@GMA
An official for WSDA also told ‘GMA’ the tracker they recently placed on another one of those hornets was also still in the trunk … so clearly, there’s still some buggers in there somewhere. They say they sucked out roughly a hundred or so with their high-tech mission.
You’ll recall … about ten of those folks went out there at the crack of dawn Saturday in a sneak attack of sorts — hoping to catch the hornets off guard by wrapping the area where their nest was in plastic wrap, filling it with a substance and then sucking ’em out dry.
They captured quite a lot in their haul — but it appears the most important one remains … and they might need to head back for a 2nd go. The WSDA official adds … there are probably a handful of other nests they need to locate in the state, so the job’s definitely not done.
Here’s another scary factoid about these little bastards … apparently, they can sting you with their venom multiple times. Not only that, but they can SPIT IT TOO!!! Worst of all, the hornets have a habit of wiping out bee colonies — which can affect our crops/food supply.
Take heed, y’all.