The giant "killing wasps" ... America is tracking them before entering the "slaughter stage"

The giant Asian hornets, known for their ferocity, actively attack their victims, and when they are about to enter the "slaughter phase", they cut off the heads of their victims and then prey on the brood and cocoons from the beehive over a period of days.

The American newspaper "The Seattle Times" reported that since September 21, six giant Asian hornets, sometimes called "killing wasps", have been seized, surrounded, or reported in Blaine, Washington state, as they were spotted for the first time in The United States last year.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture is desperately seeking to track down and kill these hornets' nests before continuing their fierce, deadly attacks.

For his part, Sven Eric Spischiger, an insect expert at the ministry, said, "The giant Asian hornets start at this time of the year, entering into what we call the (slaughter phase)."

He explained: "Wasps will visit apiaries, and basically put a mark on the hive and attack it forcefully, and every bee will come out of the hive, then cut the heads of the bees and kill all the workers, then spend the next few days harvesting the brood and cocoons from the hive to be the source of food for them."

Spichegger said in a press conference held on "Facebook", on Friday, that the ministry believes that it is dealing with one nest, and that it is necessary to find and destroy it before reaching the "slaughter stage" or creating new ones.

He pointed out that the first wasp among the six wasps was seized on September 21, east of Blaine in Watcom County, as a family discovered it after the hornet repeatedly visited a hornet's nest in the eaves of its roof, according to what was reported by the Seattle Times newspaper.

After that, he added, the family decided to set a trap and then seized another wasp.

Another entomologist at the ministry, Chris Looney, met the owner of the place and were able to catch a third wasp alive in its net while they were talking.

Spechiger explained that the Washington State Department of Agriculture tried to stick a chip on the live hornet, working on identification via radio waves, but the idea of ​​using the gum failed, and it extended to the wings of the wasp and prevented it from flying and returning to its nest, and thus the plan that could have led scientists to fail The nest.

Carla Sapp, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Agriculture, found a fourth hornet dead in a street lamp.

Spichiger mentioned that the fifth hornet was captured through a "perfect" photograph taken by an external camera placed at a doorbell, as the yellow head of the large insect appeared in the photograph.

While someone reported the sixth hornet, after finding it dead in the balcony.

He said that the ministry will inspect its live traps on a daily basis, noting that it uses a number of methods to find the giant Asian hornets, including the use of beehives for the purpose of seduction.

The "Seattle Times" newspaper indicated that the giant Asian hornets, which are the largest in the world with a length of 2 inches, can completely eliminate the hives that produce honey, which is necessary for pollination, and they also cause painful stings to humans.

It is reported that there are up to 50 people who die every year from hornet stings in Japan only.

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