Washington state discovers first US ‘murder hornet’ nest

Scientists in Washington state have discovered first nest of so-called murder hornets in United States and plan to wipe it out Saturday to protect native honeybees, officials said.

Workers with state Agriculture Department spent weeks searching, trapping and using dental floss to tie tracking devices to Asian giant hornets, which can deliver painful stings to people and spit vem but are biggest threat to honeybees that farmers depend on to pollinate crops.

B wear delayed plans Friday to destroy nest found in Blaine, a city rth of Seattle.

nest is about size of a basketball and contains an estimated 100 to 200 hornets, according to scientists, who suspected it was in area ever since invasive insects began appearing late last year. Officials have said it's t kwn how y arrived in rth America.

Despite ir nickname and hype that has stirred fears in an alrey bleak year, world's largest hornets kill at most a few dozen people a year in Asian countries, and experts say it is probably far less. Meanwhile, hornets, wasps and bees typically found in United States kill an aver of 62 people a year, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said.

real threat from Asian giant hornets — which are 2 inches (5 centimeters) long — is ir devastating attacks on honeybees, which are alrey under siege from problems like mites, diseases, pesticides and loss of food. A small group of hornets can kill an entire honeybee hive in hours, and y have alrey destroyed six or seven hives in Washington state, officials said.

nest was found after an Agriculture Department worker trapped two of hornets Wednesday. Two more were captured Thursday, ncy said.

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