MURDER HORNETS

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New murderous hornets have been found in The US, Asia, Europe, and Canada. These three inch murder hornets were farmed and raised in Asia as a delicacy, but ended up  traveling to the many other countries. These Murder Hornets main target is beehives, as they are a source of both food and shelter. When they find a beehive, they go in searching for honey. Once they find their snack, they decapitate all of the bees in the hive, and proceed to eat the heads of the dead creatures. Now, they have food, and a place to stay inside of the beehive. These hornets' eating habits could bring bees to extinction very quickly, and it seems as though due to the large population of these destructive hornets, this could be a very large problem. However, bees are not the only ones who should fear the murder hornets.

One sting from these murder hornets has enough venom to kill a child. If you get stung more than 3-5 times, you could very easily die, and unless you are to the hospital immediately, the venom will sink into your bloodstream, and kill you within the day, if not within the hour. This venom is filled with deadly neurotoxins that can cause fatal injuries. So far murder hornets haven’t killed anyone, but they are expected to kill at least 15 people by the end of summer. Unlike bees, these hornets will not die after they sting you, but can in fact sting you multiple times before you die. 

Shunichi Makino said, “The sensation is like being stabbed by a red-hot needle.” Shunichi Makino studies wasps and bees at Japan’s Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute. Not only does the sting hurt terribly, but the pain lingers. Usually, the stung area swells and continues to hurt for days on end. Although theses symptoms are found in other stings as well, the pain and longevity of the murder hornets sting is said to be 3 times worse. Soichi Yamane was stung by these murder hornets while on the job. He was a wasp researcher and he agrees with Shinto Makino’s description of the sting’s effects on the body. He said, “The pain lasted two days, and my sleep was often disturbed by severe pain.” As you can see, Murder hornets are not only endangering the environment with their potential to kill off all the bees, but humans as well, with their deadly stings. 

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