Murder Hornets eradicated from Washington state

Relative size of bumblebees
and murder hornets

OLYMPIA, WA – After three years without confirmed detections, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have declared the northern giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) eradicated from Washington and the United States.

Had the hornets become established in the country, they could have posed a significant threat to honey bees and other pollinators and native insects. 

Northern giant hornets are able to kill an entire honey bee hive in as little as 90 minutes by ripping their heads off.

They also pose a threat to human health as their sting is more dangerous than that of a honey bee.

A queen captured in Washington state

The eradication success was the result of a multiyear effort to find and eradicate the hornets, which began in 2019. 

It involved extensive collaboration between state, federal, and international government agencies as well as significant support from community members and groups, especially in Whatcom County.

“Without the public’s support for this effort, it is unlikely we would be announcing the eradication of northern giant hornet today,” Sven Spichiger, WSDA pest program manager, said.

“All of our nest detections resulted directly or indirectly from public reports. And half of our confirmed detections came from the public. The people of Washington can be proud that we did this by working together.”

Similar efforts in Canada were successful and the murder hornet is eradicated there, as well. The hornets came from Asia, where they are common, and were discovered in Vancouver, B.C. and Whatcom County in Washington state in August 2019. It is suspected they came in with international cargo shipments from Asia.