# Murder Hornet Nest found and destroyed North of Seattle Washington
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [October 24, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799 "2020-10-24T22:34:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/1 "2020-10-24T22:34:30Z")
2020 just keeps on finding ways to make our lives challenging. This time it’s murder hornets. They have a quarter inch long stinger and can wipe out a domestic bee hive in an hour. The adults body’s are 1 3/4 inches long. Scientists were able to attach electronic trackers to captured hornets to find the best.
This nest was found on private property in Blaine, just North of Seattle Washington. Scientists thought murder hornets nested in the ground. But this nest was found in a hollow tree.
> **[Crews work to destroy 1st 'murder hornet' nest discovered in US: Officials](https://abcnews.go.com/US/nest-murder-hornets-washington-state-1st-us-officials/story?id=73791624)**
>
> Washington state entomologists discovered the first Asian giant hornet nest in the United States this week, officials said.
There’s some photos of the best extraction.
> **[Murder hornets successfully removed from tree near Blaine](https://komonews.com/news/local/murder-hornets-successfully-removed-from-tree-near-blaine)**
>
> BLAINE, Wash. – State entomologists successfully vacuumed several giant Asian “murder hornets” from a tree cavity near Blaine Saturday morning. Officials with the Washington State Department of Agriculture say removing the hornets is necessary...
Daily Mail has a lot more photos and information. Probably taken from several published articles.
> **[Around 200 'murder hornets' will be 'extracted alive and killed'](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8873451/Washington-state-discovers-murder-hornet-nest-US.html)**
>
> The Washington State Department of Agriculture wiped out the nest Saturday to protect native honeybees, marking the first successful attempt to locate and remove a nest on US soil.
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### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/2 "2020-10-24T22:45:07Z")
That’s in @Johnny_L.A.'s neck of the woods.
Excellent photos at your [DailyMail.com](http://DailyMail.com) link.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/3 "2020-10-24T22:54:57Z")
I have a hunch there’s more nests in that area. Insects are like rats. You see 1 nest and there’s probably dozens more close by.
I thought killer bees were bad. These murder hornets sound even more lethal.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/4 "2020-10-25T00:39:49Z")
Yep. I don’t recognise the area, since I live in Birch Bay; but the Post Office says I live in Blaine.
Apparently there was a crew from Discovery Channel there this morning, along with the state and federal crews.
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### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/5 "2020-10-25T00:50:57Z")
Why are they bothering to extract the murder hornets alive if they’re just going to be killed, anyway?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/6 "2020-10-25T01:27:57Z")
According to the Whatcom County Government Facebook page: ‘The nest, which was located in a tree trunk, was sealed, vacuumed and then injected with carbon dioxide to asphyxiate whatever remained in the cavity. The nest will later be removed and dissected for further study by entomologists.’
So it sounds like they’re not being extracted alive. They did capture ones alive, and put tracking devices on them to lead authorities to the nest.
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### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/7 "2020-10-25T04:01:14Z")
I’ve seen murder hornets used as a joke. I never realized they were a real thing.
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/8 "2020-10-25T08:18:19Z")
Were they collecting them alive for research or something? They were vacuumed up into a transparent cannister. One of the photos appears to show the cannister packed in ice cubes.
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### Author:  [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/9 "2020-10-25T10:34:58Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> So it sounds like they’re not being extracted alive. They did capture ones alive, and put tracking devices on them to lead authorities to the nest.
Wanna know something really stupid? We have a different species of invasive hornet currently spreading through Europe, which is occasionally showing up in the UK.
There’s a big campaign to stop it getting established, which means tracking down every single nest. By far the best way to do this is to put some kind of tracking thing on worker hornets, which will be taking food back… but it’s illegal to release them as they’re classed as invasive. This means you can’t catch, tag and release them, even though the ones you’d be tagging are sterile workers, and you’re literally doing it to find the nest. The gummint agency responsible for enforcing this rule is also the one running the campaign to prevent them getting established, who are actually showing up if any workers are found, so they’re making everyone try and mark them without catching the stupid things, making it much harder and less effective, all because of the rule intended to prevent the spread of invasive species…
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### Author:  [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/10 "2020-10-25T15:53:44Z")
I was hoping someone would post this. I think how they got rid of them is totally cool.
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### Author:  [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/11 "2020-10-25T19:21:20Z")
Filbert, that sounds so stupid that I’d expect it to be US policy.
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### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/12 "2020-10-25T19:25:37Z")
If I read it correctly, most of the hornets were vacuumed out while alive, then they filled the nest with CO2 to kill off any that the vacuum didn’t get. All I can think is that they thought too many would get away if they did it the other way around, but I’m still curious.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/13 "2020-10-25T19:47:33Z")
My main reaction is that there are probably lots of these nests in that part of the US & Canada now, so I’m wondering why this seems so newsworthy.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/14 "2020-10-25T19:49:29Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> The adults body’s are 1 3/4 inches long. Scientists were able to attach electronic trackers to captured hornets to find the best.
I’m really wondering about the poor soul who got the job of attaching electronic trackers to live murder hornets.
Does workers’ comp cover murder hornet stings?
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### Author:  [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/15 "2020-10-25T19:55:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> My main reaction is that there are probably lots of these nests in that part of the US & Canada now, so I’m wondering why this seems so newsworthy.
They’ve found a few hornets in the wild but I believe this is the first nest they have found in Washington.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/16 "2020-10-25T21:00:04Z")
> [@Morgyn](#):
>
> If I read it correctly, most of the hornets were vacuumed out while alive, then they filled the nest with CO2 to kill off any that the vacuum didn’t get.
The video on [this page](https://www.geekwire.com/2020/uw-researcher-put-tiny-tracking-technology-giant-hornets-help-state-deal-murderous-pest/?fbclid=IwAR0wyjkGcVbJwth37gKMlWJSDFhjZ_pU-VQVaVxaw75NWXFK76KnbpbzIJE) shows what I am taking to be a vacuum canister, and the hornets look dead to me.
> [@Broomstick](#):
>
> I’m really wondering about the poor soul who got the job of attaching electronic trackers to live murder hornets.
From the site linked above:
> A researcher from the University of Washington, using tiny technology, has been playing a big role in helping state entomologists tackle a giant problem…
>
> [Vikram Iyer](http://staff.washington.edu/vsiyer/), a PhD student at the University of Washington, works in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering’s [Networks and Mobile Systems Lab](http://netlab.cs.washington.edu/) under the direction of Associate Professor Shyam Gollakota. His research focuses on wireless technologies including the development of bio-inspired and bio-integrative wireless sensors…
>
> “[Thursday] I wasn’t able to make it up there but the group tried slightly larger radios with longer battery life,” Iyer said. “They followed a hornet back close to the same property where we lost it last week and noticed some insects flying into a hole in a tree which turned out to be the nest.
So it looks like a PhD student developed the technology, but was unable to do the work personally on Thursday. I would assume that since this is a new technology developed at U-Dub, the work was carried out by people there.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/17 "2020-10-25T21:02:11Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#):
>
> They’ve found a few hornets in the wild but I believe this is the first nest they have found in Washington.
Yes. About 20 hornets have been trapped up here, but this is the first nest that has been found.
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### Author:  [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/18 "2020-10-25T21:05:08Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#):
>
> I’ve seen murder hornets used as a joke. I never realized they were a real thing.
It is sort of a joke. My understanding is that the sting feels like having a two-penny nail pounded into you, but it is not, per se, lethal. A dozen or two people in Asia succumb from the sting of the giant hornet, but I think most who are stung do not. The outcome probably turns on general state of health and sensitivity to bee/wasp venom.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/19 "2020-10-25T21:05:59Z")
Oh…
> Murder Hornet Nest found and destroyed North of Seattle Washington
Actually, it’s pretty far north of Seattle. Blaine, where the nest was found, is right on the Canadian border. Our house is four miles directly south of the border. My office is in Seattle, and it’s a 115-mile drive.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornet-nest-found-and-destroyed-north-of-seattle-washington/923799/20 "2020-10-25T21:06:57Z")
I think they’re called ‘murder hornets’ because of how they massacre honey bees.
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