The coronavirus may not be the only thing worrying the people of the East Coast. Experts warned that the world's largest and deadly meat-eating hornet will inevitably make its way to the eastern part of America.
The "murder hornet" which was known to kill up to 50 people a year in Japan, recently surfaced for the first time in the United States in Washington state in December. Experts believe that some of the insects might have made their way to the US embarked on a ship from China.
Anthony Planakis, a retired police officer and beekeeper, estimates the hornets to reach the East in about two to three years. He said that it only takes a few hornets to form a colony.
Planakis pinpointed green spaces in the outer boroughs in the city as eventual local infiltration venues. He said that parks, in general, would be an attractive new home for the hornets, which tend to nest in the ground or delve into rotten wood.
Andrew Cote, a beekeeper in Manhattan said that there is no way to stop the arrival of the 'murder hornets'. He adds that it could take them years to come, or could end up on the back of someone's truck and 'be here in four days'. Either way, he says that there is no way to stop their arrival and that the insects are 'here to stay'.
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The Fearsome Asian Hornets
Queen Asian hornets are about one and a half inches in length while workers measure a little less than an inch. The body of the Asian hornet is velvety black to dark brown, with each abdominal division bordered with a fine yellow ring.
According to Planakis, the hornets are a bit bigger than a cicada. He says that its stinger is about a quarter of an inch, compared to the one-sixteenth of an inch for a honey bee.
Asian hornet nests can be found high up in trees. Although their nests are mostly hidden from view, they become somewhat visible until autumn when the nests are at their largest and some tree species start to drop their leaves.
Planakis said that inside their venom is a pheromone, which acts like a magnet to other hornets. He says that a person can get swarmed just by getting stung by one of the hornets. According to him, killing a hornet would be a bad idea as the scent of a dead hornet would release an airborne essence that would cause the rest of the hive to come.
How the Hornets are Handled in China
During a trip to China in 2017, Cote accounted that local beekeepers there used small bats that looked like miniature cricket bats to hit the hornets mid-air. He says that it sounded like someone hitting a rock.
Planakis added that hornet hunters are a 'thing' in China. According to him, these hunters would have a tracker and set up a water source, and simply wait for the hornets to come.
As soon as the hornet comes to the water source to drink, the hunter jumps out with a net, and grabs it. The hunter then meticulously ties a string on it and lets it go.
Meanwhile, he adds, a spotter would be watching and tracking the hornet with binoculars as it flies back to its nest. At night time, the hunters would burn the nests with flamethrowers and eradicate the whole hornet base.
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