A woke American scientist got the name of the Asian giant hornet, commonly referred to as a &#8220;murder hornet,&#8221; changed this week in an apparent attempt to be less offensive to China.
The giant insects can decimate entire populations of honeybees, literally ripping their heads off, and their painful stings can be potentially be fatal to humans if they are allergic.
Asian giant hornets have recently been spotted in small numbers in the Pacific Northwest, where officials have rushed to exterminate them before they become a permanent fixture of local habitats in the U.S.
The Entomological Society of America (ESA) now demands that the insect be called the &#8220;Northern giant hornet&#8221; to avoid stigmas amid anti-Asian sentiment due to the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in China.
Chris Looney, an entomologist at the Washington State Department of Agriculture, <a href="https://entsoc.org/sites/default/files/common%20name%20proposals/Vespa_species.pdf">admitted</a> in his proposal to rename the Asian giant hornet that the invasive species is &#8220;native to parts of Asia&#8221; and that the name is &#8220;accurate.&#8221;
While Looney cited three different reasons for wanting to rename the insect, his top listed reason was stigma associated the name.
&#8220;Indeed, in my personal experience I have heard statements like &#8216;another damn thing from China&#8217; multiple times &#8230;,&#8221; he claimed.  &#8220;Even if people do not explicitly ascribe negative feelings towards the insect, or their neighbors and colleagues of Asian descent, the prominence of the descriptor &#8216;Asian&#8217; in the common name will, for some people, implicitly take precedence over other, more important, biological characteristics.&#8221;
&#8220;It is at best a neutral and uninformative adjective, potentially a distraction from more salient characters of the organism, and at worst a racist trope,&#8221; he claimed. &#8220;Finally, insisting on incorporating &#8216;Asian&#8217; into the common name risks alienating some community members and deterring participation in an otherwise vibrant community science program.&#8221;
Akito Kawahara, an entomologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History, told The New York Times that she wanted to &#8220;avoid names that are associated with particular races or regions&#8221; because when the organisms are &#8220;invading&#8221; it&#8217;s &#8220;really, really problematic.&#8221;
When the Asian giant hornets were first sighted back in the U.S. a couple of years ago, officials started searching for their nests using infrared cameras while they placed traps in the area, including special traps that are designed to keep the hornets alive. Officials wanted to catch live specimens so they could be tagged and released with the hopes that they would lead officials to their nests, which would then be eradicated.
Asian giant hornets can be massive, reaching a staggering two inches in length, significantly larger than a typical honeybee.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/USDA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USDA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/USDA_APHIS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USDA_APHIS</a> kicks of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PollinatorWeek?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PollinatorWeek</a> with a new blog about the threat that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AsianGiantHornets?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AsianGiantHornets</a> pose to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/pollinators?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#pollinators</a>. <a href="https://t.co/VXS3E32heV">https://t.co/VXS3E32heV</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZsXbWcNLSG">pic.twitter.com/ZsXbWcNLSG</a>
&mdash; Washington State Department of Agriculture (@WSDAgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/WSDAgov/status/1275087989492731916?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Giant hornet

‘Racist Trope’: Woke U.S. Scientist Changes Name Of ‘Asian Giant Hornet’ To Be Less Offensive To China

Woke U.S. Scientist Changes Name Of ‘Asian Giant Hornet’ To Be Less Offensive To China

China

Murder Hornets

First COVID-19 came back, now, murder hornets.
The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has confirmed the first report of a live Asian giant hornet sighting in Washington in 2021, according to a statement.
&#8220;The report was submitted by a Whatcom County resident on Aug. 11. WSDA entomologists reviewed and confirmed the report as an Asian giant hornet on Aug. 12. The report included a photograph of an Asian giant hornet attacking a paper wasp nest in a rural area east of Blaine, about 2 miles from where WSDA eradicated the first Asian giant hornet nest in the United States last October,&#8221; the WSDA said.
“This hornet is exhibiting the same behavior we saw last year – attacking paper wasp nests,” said Sven Spichiger, WSDA managing entomologist. “If you have paper wasp nests on your property and live in the area, keep an eye on them and report any Asian giant hornets you see. Note the direction they fly off to as well.”
The agency has launched into action. &#8220;In response to this detection, WSDA will be setting live traps in the area in an attempt to catch a live hornet, tag it, and track it back to the nest. The British Columbia government will likewise be setting additional traps in Canada as this detection was approximately half a mile from the U.S./Canadian border,&#8221; the WSDA said.
Scientists in the U.S. and Canada are joining forces to battle the so-called murder hornets, which arrived in North America from Asia in recent years. The scientists have fought them mostly in Whatcom County, Washington, and across the border in nearby Fraser Valley of British Columbia, where swarms of the giant insects have been spotted.
“This is not a species we want to tolerate here in the United States,” said Sven-Erik Spichiger of the Washington state Department of Agriculture, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/science/scientists-in-us-canada-gear-up-for-battle-against-murder-hornets">according</a> to Fox News. “The Asian giant hornet is not supposed to be here. We may not get them all, but we will get as many as we can.”
Paul van Westendorp, who works with the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, said the hornets are not only a danger to people, but they also could damage bee populations. “It’s an absolutely serious danger to our health and well-being,” he said. “These are intimidating insects.”
“Asian giant hornet attacks and destroys honeybee hives,” Washington State Department of Agriculture said last year in a <a href="https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/insects/hornets" data-analytics-module="body_link" data-analytics-post-depth="40">blog post. </a> “A few hornets can destroy a hive in a matter of hours. The hornets enter a ‘slaughter phase’ where they kill bees by decapitating them. They then defend the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young.”
“These hornets will actually come into colonies, and they will decapitate the bees at the hive. They can decimate an entire colony,” University of Tennessee entomologist Jennifer Tsurda told <a href="https://www.wvlt.tv/content/news/Murder-hornets-threaten-honey-bee-population--570188401.html">WVLT News</a>.
The battle will have two fronts. “One major front will be setting thousands of traps this spring to capture queens that are trying to establish nests, officials said. Both government agencies and private citizens will set traps, they said,” Fox reported. “Another effort is underway to determine exactly where in Asia these hornets came from, to try and learn how they are getting across the Pacific Ocean, scientists said. The theory is they are crossing on cargo ships, Spichiger said.”
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-than-500-murder-hornets-were-found-in-the-nest-destroyed-in-washington-state-including-about-200-queens">reported</a> in November that one nest that was destroyed last year contained more than 500 insects at various growth stages and nearly 200 queens capable of starting their own colonies.

Washington State Department Of Agriculture Sets Traps For Asian Giant Hornets

Just Like COVID-19, Murder Hornets Are Back, Too

COVID

Scientists in the U.S. and Canada are preparing to renew the battle against the so-called murder hornets, which arrived in North America from Asia in recent years.
The scientists said the battle is currently being fought mostly in Whatcom County, Washington, and across the border in nearby Fraser Valley of British Columbia, where swarms of the giant insects have been spotted.
&#8220;This is not a species we want to tolerate here in the United States,&#8221; said Sven-Erik Spichiger of the Washington state Department of Agriculture, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/science/scientists-in-us-canada-gear-up-for-battle-against-murder-hornets">according</a> to Fox News. &#8220;The Asian giant hornet is not supposed to be here. We may not get them all, but we will get as many as we can.&#8221;
Paul van Westendorp, who works with the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, said the hornets are not only a danger to people, but they also could damage bee populations. &#8220;It’s an absolutely serious danger to our health and well-being,&#8221; he said. &#8220;These are intimidating insects.&#8221;
“Asian giant hornet attacks and destroys honeybee hives,” Washington State Department of Agriculture said last year in a <a href="https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/insects/hornets" data-analytics-module="body_link" data-analytics-post-depth="40">blog post. </a> “A few hornets can destroy a hive in a matter of hours. The hornets enter a ‘slaughter phase’ where they kill bees by decapitating them. They then defend the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young.”
&#8220;These hornets will actually come into colonies, and they will decapitate the bees at the hive. They can decimate an entire colony,&#8221; University of Tennessee entomologist Jennifer Tsurda told <a href="https://www.wvlt.tv/content/news/Murder-hornets-threaten-honey-bee-population--570188401.html">WVLT News</a>.
The battle will have two fronts. &#8220;One major front will be setting thousands of traps this spring to capture queens that are trying to establish nests, officials said. Both government agencies and private citizens will set traps, they said,&#8221; Fox reported. &#8220;Another effort is underway to determine exactly where in Asia these hornets came from, to try and learn how they are getting across the Pacific Ocean, scientists said. The theory is they are crossing on cargo ships, Spichiger said.&#8221;
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-than-500-murder-hornets-were-found-in-the-nest-destroyed-in-washington-state-including-about-200-queens">reported</a> in November that one nest that was destroyed last year contained more than 500 insects at various growth stages and nearly 200 queens capable of starting their own colonies.
While the giant hornets are not as deadly as some other insects, they do not lose their stingers like some bees and are able to continuously pump venom into a victim. In a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15563650701664871">2006 paper</a> on the insects, a team of Japanese doctors said the hornets are deadly to humans.
“In Japan, fatalities due to Vespa mandarinia (wasp) stings are estimated to range from 30 to 50 persons each year. Most victims appear to die from anaphylaxis or sudden cardiac arrest,” the doctors wrote, “while some of them die from to multiple organ failure including rhabdomyolysis, renal failure, liver dysfunction, respiratory failure, and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy.”
Those who died were stung an average of 59 times, while those who survived suffered around 28 stings, the doctors found.

‘Serious Danger To Our Health And Well-Being’: Scientists Gear Up To Battle Murder Hornets

The Washington state “murder hornet” nest that was destroyed last month contained more than 500 insects at various growth states and nearly 200 queens capable of starting their own colonies, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/science/murder-hornet-asian-giant-hornet-washington-state-queens-nest-whatcom-county">reported</a>.
Sven-Erik Spichiger, managing entomologist with the Washington State Department of Agriculture, said during a press conference call with reporters earlier this week that the nest was destroyed “in the nick of time.”
“It really seems like we got there just in the nick of time as our original vacuum extraction seemed to only give us workers,” he said. “We only got queens four days later after we cracked it open, and so if any queens had already left the nest, it was just a few.”
At the time the nest was destroyed, state officials described it as about the size of a basketball.
“Once the nest was opened up, it was found to have 190 total larvae that developed from eggs, and 108 pupae, the next stage after larvae. They were nearly all queens,” Fox reported. “Officials also found 112 workers, which included 85 that had been previously vacuumed out of the nest.”
The workers that had been vacuumed out of the nest previously had survived.
Spichiger also provided a grim assessment of the current situation concerning the hornets, suggesting there could be more nests unknown to scientists.
&#8220;We know from the literature that a small percentage of these will go on to form colonies next year, should they have been given the chance to escape,&#8221; Spichiger said at this press conference.
In <a href="https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/insects/hornets">a blog post</a> earlier this year, Washington’s agriculture department explained how Asian giant hornets operate.
“Asian giant hornet attacks and destroys honeybee hives,” officials wrote. “A few hornets can destroy a hive in a matter of hours. The hornets enter a ‘slaughter phase’ where they kill bees by decapitating them. They then defend the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young.”
As The Daily Wire’s Joseph Curl previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-vibrating-swarm-of-bees-roasts-a-murder-hornet-alive-ted-cruz-loves-it">reported</a>, Japanese honeybees are able to defend themselves from the hornets.
“Unlike European honeybees, the Japanese bees, when attacked, form into ‘hot defensive bee balls’ around the intruder. They vibrate their bodies, which raises the temperature to 116 Fahrenheit. The Japanese bees can withstand 117 degrees — the Asian giant hornet, 115 degrees,” Curl wrote.
The murder hornets are capable of killing humans, though deaths are rare, according to a 2006 paper from Japan.
“In Japan, fatalities due to Vespa mandarinia (wasp) stings are estimated to range from 30 to 50 persons each year. Most victims appear to die from anaphylaxis or sudden cardiac arrest,” a group of doctors wrote, “while some of them die from to multiple organ failure including rhabdomyolysis, renal failure, liver dysfunction, respiratory failure, and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy.”
While a brief panic over the hornets set in over the summer, a Washington, D.C. bee expert told the DCist that people need to “<a href="https://dcist.com/story/20/05/05/everyone-should-chill-the-hell-out-about-murder-hornets-says-local-bee-expert/">chill the hell out</a>” over the insects.
“There is no more a murder hornet than there is a killer bee,” said Toni Burnahm, president of the D.C. Bee Keepers Alliance. “They’re both stupid names.”

Murder hornets

More Than 500 ‘Murder Hornets’ Were Found In The Nest Destroyed In Washington State, Including About 200 Queens

As if 2020 needed anything more to qualify as the craziest year on record, now the bees are revolting.
As America comes to grips with a (small, really not anything to worry about) infestation of “murder hornets” in Washington state, it must now contend with an “aggressive swarm” of bees that attacked and killed three dogs in Arizona, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/05/14/swarm-of-bees-fatally-attacks-3-dogs-in-arizona/">reported</a>.
The attack happened at a home in Tucson, where firefighters responded to douse the bees with foam to get them to stop attacking.
“Crews are foaming the aggressive bees before tending to the other dogs. We never enjoy killing precious bees, but in these rare cases it is necessary,” the <a href="https://twitter.com/TucsonFireDept/status/1260697073080348675?s=20">Tucson Fire Department tweeted</a>.
The department followed up those tweets with updates, including notice that all three dogs involved in the attack died from their injuries. Two of the dogs “passed away shortly after arriving at the vet,” the fire department tweeted.
“Please be mindful of your animals always, but particularly when there are bees on your property,” the department added.
The attack involving bees comes just two weeks after it was first reported that Asian giant hornets were found in Washington State. Nicknamed “murder hornets,” the insects measure two inches long, can wipe out an entire colony of bees in a few hours, and have stingers so long and powerful they can puncture beekeeping suits, the Post reported.
“With queens that can grow to two inches long, Asian giant hornets can use mandibles shaped like spiked shark fins to wipe out a honeybee hive in a matter of hours, decapitating the bees and flying away with the thoraxes to feed their young,” The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/us/asian-giant-hornet-washington.html">reported</a> after the hornets were discovered. “For larger targets, the hornet’s potent venom and stinger — long enough to puncture a beekeeping suit — make for an excruciating combination that victims have likened to hot metal driving into their skin.”
For those who have some kind of desire to know what it’s like to be stung by one of these winged monsters, The Daily Wire’s Joseph Curl <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-it-feels-like-to-be-stung-by-asias-murder-hornet">has you covered</a>.
Even though they sound scary, a Washington, D.C., bee expert said recently that “everyone should chill the hell out” about “murder hornets.”
As The Daily Wire’s Amanda Prestigiacomo <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/d-c-bee-expert-everyone-should-chill-the-hell-out-about-murder-hornets">reported</a>, the president of the D.C. Bee Keepers Alliance, Toni Burnham said “There is no more a murder hornet than there is a killer bee,” adding that “They’re both stupid names.”
“These things have been around, and there are techniques for controlling them,” the bee expert added.
“Let [Washington state] handle it, and everyone calm down,” she said. “Have a beer.”
Still, the fact that they can <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-giant-hornet-now-invading-u-s-kills-mouse-in-less-than-a-minute">kill a mouse in minutes</a> makes them pretty darn scary.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Bees at a beehive

Move Over, ‘Murder Hornets,’ This Swarm Of Angry Bees Just Killed Three Dogs

A D.C. bee expert is advising people to &#8220;chill the hell out&#8221; over reports of so-called &#8220;murder hornets,&#8221; which originated in Japan and recently made their way to Washington state.
“Everyone should chill the hell out,&#8221; said president of the D.C. Bee Keepers Alliance Toni Burnham, according to <a href="https://dcist.com/story/20/05/05/everyone-should-chill-the-hell-out-about-murder-hornets-says-local-bee-expert/">DCist</a>.
The bees, known as Asian giant hornets or Vespa mandarinia, have been dubbed &#8220;murder hornets,&#8221; which Burnham argues is misleading and &#8220;stupid.&#8221;
&#8220;There is no more a murder hornet than there is a killer bee,&#8221; she explained. &#8220;They’re both stupid names.&#8221;
&#8220;That fear has consequences—in the past few days, she has seen photos across the country showing some people killing other bees, even bumblebees, over the murder hornet paranoia,&#8221; DCist report said, adding, &#8220;The hornet is not new to entomologists. Like most insects, when unprovoked, they’re not a threat to humans, Burnham says.&#8221;
“These things have been around, and there are techniques for controlling them,” the bee expert explained.
According to Burnham, &#8220;murder hornets are no scarier looking than other large insects that buzz around the region, like the <a href="https://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/stinging-insects/european-hornet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">European hornet</a> (which she calls flying school buses for their bright yellow torsos) or her favorite bug, <a href="https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef004" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cicada killers</a>,&#8221; according to DCist. &#8220;She urges that residents shouldn’t go out of their way to kill these creatures out of fear of a potential murder hornet invasion.&#8221;
“Let [Washington state] handle it, and everyone calm down,” she added. “Have a beer.”
Last week, news reports spread about the so-called murder hornets, adding more panic to already novel coronavirus-panicked Americans. The real issue with the bees, as highlighted by <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/murder-hornets-united-states-honeybee-population-vespa-mandarinia/">CBS News</a>, is the apparent threat the bees might pose to the honeybee population, which in turn would affect food supply.
&#8220;[M]urder hornets become most dangerous from late summer to early fall, when they ravage through honey bee populations,&#8221; the CBS News report outlined. &#8220;WSU researchers said the hornets attack the bee hives, decapitating and killing the adults and eating the larvae and pupae. Just a few of the hornets can completely destroy a hive in a matter of hours.&#8221;
&#8220;WSDA says on their website that the hornets do not typically go after humans, but if they do, not even beekeeping suits can protect against the hornets&#8217; stingers, which are longer and more dangerous than a bee&#8217;s,&#8221; the report noted.
As noted by <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/just-how-dangerous-is-the-murder-hornet/">Scientific American</a>, &#8220;U.S. beekeepers supply billions of honeybees each year to help pollinate at least 90 agricultural crops. And they are worried that this new raider could further worsen already deep losses in important pollinator populations. &#8230; Early colonists brought the iconic honeybee (Apis mellifera) to North America from Europe. It contributes an estimate $15 billion each year to the U.S. economy through its pollination services, far more than any other managed bee.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

avispa asiática (asian hornet)

D.C. Bee Expert: ‘Everyone Should Chill The Hell Out’ About ‘Murder Hornets’

Asian giant hornets have been spotted in Washington state, and entomologists warn that the invasive — and highly aggressive — species poses a threat to honeybees.
The friendly (by comparison) little honeybees have been domesticated for honey production and crop <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crop_plants_pollinated_by_bees">pollination</a>.
But guess what the giant hornets, officially known as Vespa mandarinia, do to those poor little workers? They invade their hive and decapitate them, then occupy the nest and use the bee larvae to feed their own young.
&#8220;Asian giant hornet attacks and destroys honeybee hives,&#8221; Washington State Department of Agriculture said in a <a href="https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/insects/hornets" data-analytics-module="body_link" data-analytics-post-depth="40">blog post. </a> &#8220;A few hornets can destroy a hive in a matter of hours. The hornets enter a &#8216;slaughter phase&#8217; where they kill bees by decapitating them. They then defend the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young.&#8221;
But Japanese honeybees have a way to defend themselves. Unlike European honeybees, the Japanese bees, when attacked, form into &#8220;hot defensive bee balls&#8221; around the intruder. They vibrate their bodies, which raises the temperature to 116 Fahrenheit. The Japanese bees can withstand 117 degrees — the Asian giant hornet, 115 degrees.
So, a swarm that surrounds a hornet literally cooks the intruder to death.
A National Geographic video captured the defensive strategy in action. In the clip, a &#8220;murder hornet,&#8221; sent out to scout a hive, flies up and strolls in, unaccosted. The honeybees appear to be going about their business until, all at once, they attack. Hundreds of honeybees swarm the intruder, and thermal photography shows the temperature inside the writhing ball rising to 116 degrees, roasting the hornet alive.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Hornets From Hell | National Geographic" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R5QxUR-mZVM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Another video made the rounds on social media on Tuesday, prompting one Twitterer to say, &#8220;The way Japanese bees deal with murder hornets is just brutal but satisfying.&#8221;
That post drew the attention of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). The senator retweeted the post, writing: “OK, this may be the coolest video ever. Murder hornets defeated!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Ok, this may be the coolest video ever. Murder hornets defeated! <a href="https://t.co/AvmJ5oGS3r">https://t.co/AvmJ5oGS3r</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1257870075174019073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Another video making the rounds shows a giant hornet attacking a mouse and pumping the little guy full of venom. At the end, the mouse appears paralyzed and gasping for breath. Then the mouse tries to stand but quickly falls again and lies motionless.
The two-inch-long hornet disengages, flies off, then flies back, hovers over his victim, and flies off again — probably looking for more mice to sting.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Asian murder hornet attacking mouse" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zoSrowxmy5w?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
While the giant hornets are not as deadly as some other insects, they do not lose their stingers like some bees and are able to continuously pump venom into a victim. In a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15563650701664871">2006 paper</a> on the insects, a team of Japanese doctors said the hornets are deadly to humans.
&#8220;In Japan, fatalities due to Vespa mandarinia (wasp) stings are estimated to range from 30 to 50 persons each year. Most victims appear to die from anaphylaxis or sudden cardiac arrest,&#8221; the doctors wrote, &#8220;while some of them die from to multiple organ failure including rhabdomyolysis, renal failure, liver dysfunction, respiratory failure, and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">member</a>.

Japanese giant hornet

WATCH: Vibrating Swarm Of Bees Roasts A ‘Murder Hornet’ Alive; Ted Cruz Loves It

Ted Cruz

Asian giant hornets, also known as &#8220;murder hornets,&#8221; are a traditional delicacy in Japan where people enjoy them fried, steamed, or added to liquor.
The Asian giant hornet is the largest hornet in the world. They are equipped with pincers and venomous stinger. Just one hornet can kill an animal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-giant-hornet-now-invading-u-s-kills-mouse-in-less-than-a-minute">such as a mouse</a>, and the bugs kill dozens of people in Japan every year.
Giant hornets recently turned up in Washington state where scientists are rushing to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/asian-giant-hornets-invading-washington-state-pose-numerous-threats-to-u-s">eradicate</a> them before they begin wiping out bee populations and causing other ecological problems. The hornets can wipe out an entire colony of bees within hours, according to entomologists.
&#8220;They’re like something out of a monster cartoon with this huge yellow-orange face,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-it-feels-like-to-be-stung-by-asias-murder-hornet">said</a> Susan Cobey, a bee keeper at Washington State University’s Department of Entomology. The hornets can fly up to 20 miles per hour.
In Japan, the giant hornets are served at restaurants as a delicacy and appear on the menus of dozens of establishments in Tokyo. Cooks prepare the insect, historically viewed as a source of cheap protein, a variety of ways such as roasting the adult bugs until the carapace is &#8220;light and crunchy,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/world/asia/murder-hornet-japan.html">The New York Times</a>.
Hornet grubs are gathered and then preserved in jars or fried in a pan. They can also be steamed and added to a bed of rice. Some distillers take the adults alive and drown them in a type of rice alcohol known as shochu. The bugs release poison as they drown, which turns the drink a dark amber shade over time.
Torao Suzuki, 75, was a professional exterminator and routinely cleared out about 40 to 50 nests a year, gathering the hornets and sometimes selling their nests, displayed for their intricate tunnels. Suzuki does not eat the giant hornets.
&#8220;Even when I tell people, they’re going to sting you, they still eat them. They say it makes them potent,&#8221; Suzuki told the Times.
Exterminators like Suzuki and hornet hunters track the insects by tying a piece of fish to a streamer, letting one hornet fly off with the meat, and tailing the bug back to its nest. The hunters then use smoke to pacify the hornets before digging up the nest.
The giant hornets, along with other edible insects, are celebrated in an annual festival held in the Gifu Prefecture in the southern part of the main island of Japan. People are warned ahead of time at the festival, known as the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200217-the-japanese-village-that-eats-wasps">Kushihara Hebo Matsuri</a>, that the organizers are not responsible for accidents with the insects.
United States officials first found the Asian “murder hornet” in December near the Canadian border. Since then, agriculture officials have been rushing to stamp out their existence in North America before they grow too numerous to handle. The insects are an existential threat to United States honeybee populations. The hornets prey on the small insects by decapitating them and feeding their thoraxes to the hornets’ larvae.
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