By Kie Relyea / The Bellingham Herald
BLAINE — There are three new confirmed sightings of Asian giant hornets in Whatcom County, increasing to 12 the number that have been reported here.
The total represents the first sightings of the hornets in Washington state and the U.S. since they were first spotted in Whatcom in 2019.
All three recent sightings were found near Burk Road, southeast of Blaine, in late September, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
Traps will be set up in the area. The goal is to catch live Asian giant hornets in those traps, tag them and track them back to their colony to destroy them so the invasive pests don’t become established in Washington state.
Usually about the size of an adult thumb, the Asian giant hornet, or Vespa mandarinia, is the world’s largest hornet species. They are identifiable by their large yellow/orange heads.
The hornets are known for their painful stings and will attack people and pets when threatened. People should be extremely cautious near them, agriculture officials said, and those who have allergic reactions to bee or wasp stings should never approach an Asian giant hornet.
They are feared for the threat they pose to honeybees — they can decimate hives quickly in what’s known as their slaughter phase, which they enter into around fall — and, by extension, the hundreds of crops in Washington state that the bees pollinate.
New sightings
As for the most recent sightings, two were caught and killed — one on Sept. 21 and the second on Sept. 25. The person who reported the captures to state agriculture officials also submitted a photo that showed another Asian giant hornet attacking a wasp nest.
That is expected for this time of the year, according to Karla Salp, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture, told The Bellingham Herald on Tuesday.
The hornets attack yellow jackets and paper wasps as well as honeybee hives, Salp added.
The person also gave one dead Asian hornet to the state, Salp said, and it appears to be a worker.
In addition to those three sightings, another neighbor said they found a dead hornet on their porch, but they threw it away so that sighting can’t be fully confirmed, Salp said.
Salp said she wouldn’t be surprised to get more reports of Asian giant hornets during the current warm sunny weather, because more hornet activity is expected at the same time that more people will be outside.
If people see what they believe to be an Asian giant hornet, Salp said they should report it to state agriculture officials immediately.
The invasive hornets’ native range is Asia. They also are known as the Japanese hornet, yak-killer hornet, the giant sparrow bee and popularly as “murder hornets” after a New York Times article.
Report it
If you think you’ve seen an Asian giant hornet, the Washington State Department of Agriculture wants you to report it.
Provide as much detail as you can about what you saw and where. Get a photo, if you can safely, and submit it to help with identification. If you find a dead Asian giant hornet, keep it for potential testing.
Here’s how to report it:
• Go online to the department of agriculture’s Hornet Watch Report Form.
• Email hornets@agr.wa.gov.
Learn more at agr.wa.gov/hornets.
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