Nearly 1,500 murder hornets found in nest destroyed by Washington state officials

OLYMPIA, Wash. — A murder hornet nest found in Washington state was home to about 1,500 of the winged insects before it was destroyed on Wednesday, officials said.

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The Washington State Department of Agriculture said the Asian giant hornets had carved out the center of a dead alder tree in rural Whatcom County to build their nest, which included nine layers of comb.

The nest was found Aug. 19 about a quarter-mile from where a resident reported a live hornet sighting on Aug. 11. The nest is about two miles from where the first giant hornet nest was found last year.

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Crews vacuumed 113 worker hornets and another 67 were captured in nets. There were an estimated 1,500 total hornets in various stages of development in the nest. Staff then removed bark and wood from the tree. A portion of the tree was removed and taken to Washington State University for research.

“While we are glad to have found and eradicated this nest so early in the season, this detection proves how important public reporting continues to be,” Sven Spichiger, managing entomologist with the wildlife agency, said in a statement. “We expect there are more nests out there and, like this one, we hope to find them before they can produce new queens.”

Wildlife officials will continue to set traps to capture hornets through November. Residents can also set traps and are urged to report sightings to the agency.

The Asian giant hornets are an invasive species that prey on honey bees and other insects.

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