2020 has been an interesting year to say the least. It seems like God was playing “10 Plagues of Egypt”, 2020 Global Edition. Newspaper and websites have constantly and consistently gone crazy with some new bad thing we have to worry about. Well, one of those –fun-- stories you may have read was mentioning something about “Murder Hornets” being found in North America.

What? MURDER HORNETS?!?! “What is that?”, you may have asked yourself. “Are those even real?”, you continue.”  Let me be the first to tell you that they are indeed a real thing. Should you be worried? Absolutely not. Let me help you understand what murder hornets are, why they are a problem, and why you shouldn’t worry.

What are “Murder Hornets”? Well they are known the world over as the Asian Giant Hornet. They are the world’s largest hornet, and they are indeed big. Here, let me give you some nightmare fuel below.

That thing has a 3-inch wingspan, and has a singer that is a quarter of an inch long. Now as much as it is big, it really isn’t that mean, for a hornet anyway. I wouldn’t encourage you to ever try and mess with one, but they will leave humans well enough alone otherwise. That being said, people have died after being stung by Asian Giant Hornets, but to people they are mostly not a threat.

So why are they called Murder Hornets? Well because they will murder the crap out of honey bee colonies. European Honey Bees, the kind that you and I know as a regular-ole-bee has no natural defense against Asian Giant Hornets. Japanese Honey Bees have somewhat of a fighting chance, but the honey bees here in North America don’t have that chance. A handful of these hornets can destroy an entire colony of bees in a few hours. It’s horrific to watch.

“So what’s the problem? So what if some bees die?” Well it has been said that one out of every three bites of food you eat is thanks due to the bees. Bees are pollinator power houses. If you eat food that was grown, likely a bee is to thank in some way. But bees have been having trouble, and bee colony numbers have been declining for the past decade, and we don’t exactly know why. Some think it may be due to pesticides, cell towers, smog, or even climate change. We don’t need to add MURDER HORNETS to that list. We need to help save the bees, not let them die a horrific murder by something that looks like a beast from a scary movie.

But why shouldn’t you worry? Well, yes, it is true they found an Asian Giant Hornet in North America, but it was dead. Hornets are not too dissimilar from honey bees, in so far as they need a queen and workers to survive. A lone honey bee or murder hornet is as good as dead. No Asian Giant Hornets have survived an overseas trip (that we’re aware of) yet, let alone an entire colony. Now if someone finds an established colony here in North America, then there is a cause for concern. Beekeepers like myself have ways of limiting the impact of hives we have, but we can’t protect wild honey bee hives. Without natural predators, the hornets will go unchecked, murdering more bees than we can save. Until we find a live hive of Asian Giant Hornets, there really isn’t anything we can do, and there really isn’t anything to worry about.

All in all, 2020 has been terrible for a lot of people. We’ve still experiencing a global pandemic, and we have a whole host of other things to worry about. Hopefully I’ve helped you understand why Murder Hornets shouldn’t be on that list of things to worry about for 2020.

Well that’s it for me this month. Until then save the bees!