The Asian Giant Hornet, also known as ‘murder hornets’, arrived in the U.S in late 2019 when the beekeeper, Custer Wash, found an entire hive of bees destroyed in Washington state.

These giant hornets can grow up to two inches long. Their diets consist of large insects, colonies of insects, tree sap, and honey from honeybee colonies. 

The Asian Giant Hornets can be hostile if aggravated. If irritated, its venom is injected by its 6.25 mm long stinger and it attacks the human body’s nervous system and breaks the tissue of its victims.

These hornets originated from Japan, China, and many more Asian countries. Their nests are mostly made in forests and low mountains. They avoid higher elevations and flatlands along with tropical environments. 

The way honey bees eliminate these much larger creatures is by attracting them into the honeybee hive. Once the giant hornet is inside the hive, it will strike one of the honeybees, this is a clue to the rest of the honeybees to charge at it. While the Asian Giant Hornets are bigger than honeybees, the honeybees outnumber the hornet by a large quantity. They will then start to vibrate and make heats of 114 F°. By doing this, they basically cook the hornet alive and kill it. 

As I mentioned before, these giant hornets can be harmful when provoked. The stings can be so bad they can cause kidney failure. In the year 2013, the Asian Giant Hornets killed 41 people and injured more than 1,600 people in China. The venom from these hornets can even cause anaphylactic shock or cardiac arrest.

As of right now, the Asian Giant Hornet is the most dangerous hornet that causes 30-50 human deaths annually in Japan.