Almost overnight the concern over Murder Hornets has come to light, taking over the meme market and grabbing headlines – but just how concerned should we actually be?
Dr. Cory Sheffield is the Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, he has built his career around researching bees, wasps, hornets and everything in between. He said, the current “Murder Hornet hysteria” is based on a lot of misinformation.
The name “Murder Hornet” is one dubbed by popular culture and is not used in the scientific community according to Dr. Sheffield. The name of the hornet is actually an Asian Giant Hornet as it originates from the continent of Asia. He said calling them “Murder Hornets” in itself has garnered a lot of false perceptions around the insect.
If there was ever a time to have a heightened concern surround the Asian Giant Hornet, it would have been last year when a nest was discovered on the coast of British Columbia in Nanaimo.
Dr. Sheffield was present during this discovery, which inevitably led to the hornet’s nest being destroyed.
“What we are looking at now, with what has been identified, is individuals (individual hornets) in [the state of] Washington. What people may not realize is that, if there is no nest, if there is no queen or colony, they cannot survive, therefore these individuals essentially have a death sentence,” explained Dr. Sheffield.
The original location of the nest that was founded last year, in Nanaimo, is a favourable environment for the insect, which is why the colony was able to survive. Although the nest has been destroyed with no others being found as of yet – those who are concerned that the Asian Giant Hornet may make it’s way to the prairies is extremely unlikely, simply due to the climate they would have to endure to get here.
“I speculate, it would be near impossible for them to survive the trip across the Rockies – and if they did – our winters here in Saskatchewan, they are not suited to survive it. They are not like our bees in that sense and the mated female would not survive, therefore, not allowing re-population of the colony the following year.”
Many have spoke the ‘ferocity’ of the Asian Giant Hornet, with reports stating they ‘rip the heads off of bees’. Dr. Sheffield said, although accurate, they are just doing what they are supposed to do, stating they feed their larvae meat protein, therefore – hunt meat.
However, honeybees in their native land, have defense mechanisms again the Asian Giant Hornet, European Honeybees, that of which we have here – do not.
“It is true, 30 of these hornets can destroy an entire honeybee colony of 20 to 30-thousand honeybees in a few hours. They do that because they are hunting,” stated Dr. Sheffield.
What is unknown at this time, is if the hornets go back to the honeybee colony they destroyed and slowly bring back the honeybees they killed, or if they leave them there.
For humans, Dr. Sheffield said the threat of the Asian Giant Hornet is no more than of any other kind of bee, wasp or hornet, and stated a sting is likely only eminent, if they feel threatened or are protecting their queen or colony.
Ultimately, there are no known nests in either Canada or the United States, which means there is no known threat.
As for how the colony developed in Nanaimo in the first place, he said it could have very likely been from one mated female who was brought over accidentally through commerce.
Dr. Sheffield is not the only one perplexed by the recent attention and so-called ‘hysteria’ surrounding the Asian Giant Hornet.
His friend and colleague, Dr. Doug Yanega, who is the Senior Museum Scientist of the Entomology Research Museum, University of California, Riverside, recently made this post on his social media page.
“Some poorly-worded media reports about Asian Giant Hornets have triggered a veritable avalanche of nonsense online, but I can help set the record straight. One colony was found and exterminated in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island in September of 2019, with a few sightings associated. One wasp believed to be from that colony was found - dead - on the US side of the border near Nanaimo in December. Right now, all the authorities are doing is asking people to keep their eyes peeled JUST IN CASE there were queens that escaped the destruction of the Nanaimo nest, and established their own nests nearby. I was one of the authorities brought in to consult on this case, and to my knowledge there have not been any sightings in 2020 that would suggest the eradication attempt was unsuccessful. Put bluntly, as far as we know, there are no Asian Giant Hornets alive in either the US or Canada as of 2020, and if there are, then they would be in the immediate vicinity of Vancouver Island (about a 50 mile radius or so). “
As the experts have clearly explained, any cause for concern regarding the Asian Murder Hornet, can surely be put to rest.
Thu, Apr 25, 9:30 AM
