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Bee-Decapitating 'Murder Hornets' Eradicated In US, Officials Say

The USDA hails the effort to expunge the northern giant hornet from Washington state as a "landmark victory in the fight against invasive species."

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Headshot of Amanda Kooser
Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
2 min read
Murder hornet with a tracker attached to it.
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Murder hornet with a tracker attached to it.

The northern giant hornet is the world's largest species of hornet.

 Washington State Department of Agriculture

With a nickname like "murder hornet," it's no wonder the Vespa mandarinia species of flying insect sparked fear when it was discovered in Canada and Washington state -- well outside of its native range in Asia -- in 2019. This kicked off an effort to find and destroy the invasive species. The work paid off. The murder hornet has been eradicated from the US, the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture announced on Wednesday.

The eradication announcement came after three years with no confirmed detections of the hornet species in Washington. The WSDA last located and eradicated nests in 2021. The first nest found and destroyed in 2020 contained nearly 500 hornets in different stages of development.

The murder hornet's official common name is the "northern giant hornet." The insects were originally known as Asian giant hornets, but the Entomological Society of America adjusted the common name in 2022 to avoid feeding into anti-Asian prejudice. The scary "murder hornet" nickname came about thanks to the insect's large size, its ability to sting multiple times and its reputation for entering a "slaughter phase" where it decapitates honey bees and destroys a hive in as little as 90 minutes. 

Four officials in white hornet protection suits hold the remnants of a northern giant hornet nest inside a large tube in the forest.

WSDA's hornet eradication team wore special protective gear when removing hornets from a nest in 2020. Left to right: Chris Looney, Cassie Cichorz, Sven Spichiger and Rian Wojahn. 

 WSDA

Officials aren't sure how the hornets got to the Pacific Northwest. They may have hitchhiked in international shipments or been accidentally introduced by travelers. The northern giant hornet would have threatened local bee populations and native insect species if it had become established in the US. Mark Davidson, a deputy administrator at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, hailed the eradication effort as a "landmark victory in the fight against invasive species."

The hornets were seen as a potential threat to humans. 

"While they do not generally bother people or pets, they can attack when threatened," the WSDA said in an explainer. "Their stinger is longer than that of a honey bee and their sting is more dangerous." The stingers are capable of penetrating standard protective beekeeping gear.

Multiple agencies worked together on the eradication effort, but the public was instrumental in the success of the program. 

"All of our nest detections resulted directly or indirectly from public reports," said WSDA pest program manager Sven Spichiger. "And half of our confirmed detections came from the public." 

While the hornet issue seems to be under control, WSDA is still keeping an eye on Kitsap County in northwestern Washington after a report of a mystery hornet in October. The agency has traps set up in the area and will continue to deploy traps in 2025. 

"Although they are now eradicated from the state, we'll always be keeping an eye out for them and encourage community members to do the same," said Spichiger. "They got here once and they could do it again."