Killer hornet nest removed in USA

Crews under heavy protective equipment cleaned the first nest of so-called "killer hornets" in the USA in the western US state of Washington.

The state's agriculture department spent weeks searching for the hornets, hunting them and using dental floss to connect tracking devices for the Asian giant hornets, whose stings can be very painful but are also the biggest threat to the bees that farmers depend on to pollinate plants.

A basketball-sized nest was found in the town of Blaine near the Canadian border and contained between 100 and 200 of these insects, according to scientists who announced the find on Friday.

Specially protected teams sucked those insects from a hole in a tree into large canisters yesterday. Protective suits prevent the six-millimeter-long stingers from touching the workers, who also wore face shields because captured hornets can shoot painful venom into the eyes.

The tree will be cut to retrieve possible young hornets and to see if the queens have already left the hive, the scientists said. Officials suspect there may be more hornet hives in the area and will continue to search.

Despite their nickname and the great buzz surrounding the discovery of nests, the world's largest hornets kill at most a few dozen people a year in Asian countries, and experts say the number is likely to be much lower. On the other hand, bees and wasps that are regularly found in the US kill an average of 62 people a year, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated.

The biggest threat from the giant Asian hornets, which are five centimeters long, is their devastating attack on bees, which are already affected by other problems such as disease, pesticides and food loss.

This insect is commonly found in China, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam and other Asian countries. The American state of Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia are the only places where these hornets have been found on the American continent.