Officials on lookout for Asian giant hornets
Asian giant hornets at the entrance of a nest in 2021. This was one of three nests researchers with the Washington State Department of Agriculture eradicated last year in an attempt to ensure the hornet does not gain a foothold in North America.
Washington State Department of Agriculture/courtesy photo
A team of researchers with the Washington State Department of Agriculture in protective suits hold a canister full of Asian giant hornets vacuumed out of their nest in 2021. Researchers stunned the hornets by flooding their nest with carbon dioxide gas, and wore the suits because of the hornets’ 1/4-inch stingers.
An Asian giant hornet flies away, trailing a tracking wire.
OLYMPIA — There have not been any confirmed sightings of the Asian giant hornet in Washington so far this year, according to Sven-Erik Spichiger, a managing entomologist with the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
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