"Sightings of the Asian giant hornet have prompted fears that the vicious insect could establish itself in the United States and devastate bee populations."
"BLAINE, Wash. — In his decades of beekeeping, Ted McFall had never seen anything like it.
As he pulled his truck up to check on a group of hives near Custer, Wash., in November, he could spot from the window a mess of bee carcasses on the ground. As he looked closer, he saw a pile of dead members of the colony in front of a hive and more carnage inside — thousands and thousands of bees with their heads torn from their bodies and no sign of a culprit.
“I couldn’t wrap my head around what could have done that,” Mr. McFall said.
Only later did he come to suspect that the killer was what some researchers simply call the “murder hornet.”"
Mike Baker reports for the New York Times May 2, 2020.
SEE ALSO:
"'Murder hornets' in Washington state threaten bees and whip up media swarm" (Guardian)
"Murder Hornets vs. Honeybees: A Swarm of Bees Can Cook Invaders Alive" (New York Times)
"Asian Giant Hornet Invasion Threatens Honey Bees in Pacific Northwest" (New York Times)
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