Almost! A little glimmer of hopeful news here. I saw a news item describing an incident where the bees fought back against a murder hornet – with fire! – and won.
Watch Honey Bees Cleverly Kill A Murder Hornet, Ron Dicker, Huffington Post, May 6, 2020.
It seems to say that a hive of bees took on ONE SINGLE hornet and killed it. Less obvious if a beehive can defend itself against a whole platoon of hornets.
Let us enumerate them. Note: According to traditional ritual, we spill a drop of wine out of our cups as each plague is named.
Swarms of locusts in East Africa. (Where are the seagulls when you need them?)
Donald Trump and family and associates.
Covid-1 through Covid-19.
Droughts.
Robocalls.
And now: Murder hornets.
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This story says that the “invasion” is limited to a few counties in the Pacific Northwest, efforts are being made to eradicate them when alerted to their presence, and the vast majority of the U.S. does not have a proper climate to support them.
I didn’t see it mentioned specifically in that article, but as far as I’ve understood, it’s only one county in the US (Whatcom County, Washington), plus a couple specimens in Canada. But it wasn’t that long ago that there was only one covid-19 case in the US, too. I’d rather these guys not get out of control, since we’re only 3 counties away here in Seattle.
My favorite phrase from that article: “vibrating bee balls”. That would make a good swear.
Which is exactly my point. The Murder Hornets are not “everywhere”. People are mistaking other big, nasty looking insects for the new ones.
I’ve been trying to rediscover an article I read days ago that had a comparison photo including a cicada killer and an Asian/Japanese hornet, and finally found it. I see cicada killers occasionally–here is one that I captured in my house. (Also, when I went to upload my photo, this was on the front page.)
I worry about this about as much I worried about Africanized Killer Bees, remember them?
Okay, what do we need to do to encourage habitat for praying mantises? How can I encourage them to guard me and my home? I am thinking of making one a pet I can wear on my hat when I go out walking.
“I never thought praying mantii would eat MY head!”
It was the little black dress and the Chanel No. Five she was wearing, wasn’t it?
I had to check something - the murder hornets are about 4 cm long. That’s just slightly less than the diameter of a golf ball.
It appears that authorities are doing their best to get rid of them as they find nests.
“Great golden digger wasps!” is also nice.
If these Murder Hornets are smart, they’ll hire a good lawyer and bargain down to Manslaughter Bees…
Sure, but even if small, their size isn’t the reason they’re so bad. They destroy entire hives of bees, a critical pollinator. And the bullet ant, which is smaller yet than the giant hornet, packs what is considered by many to be the most agonizing sting in all of insect-dom, so size and sting torment are not correlated.
A Murder Hornet vs Praying Mantis. Things dont go well for the Murder Hornet.
I have been stung by five bullet ants at the same time. The name (which refers to the sting feeling like being hit by a bullet) is well deserved.
Their size (specifically that of their stinger) certainly has an impact on what kind of protective gear is effective against them.