Current Events > People kill native bees due to Giant Hornet panic, experts say not an invasion

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Panicked over murder hornets, people are killing native bees we desperately need

People, get a grip. Yes, the Asian giant hornet, now famously known as the murder hornet, is one huge scary wasp, capable of decimating an entire colony of honeybees and savagely stinging and possibly killing humans who get in their way.

But since last week, when it was reported that two hornets were spotted for the first time in Washington state, the national panic has led to the needless slaughter of native wasps and bees, beneficial insects whose populations are already threatened, said Doug Yanega, senior museum scientist for the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside. (Bees, for one, are the planets pollinators-in-chief, pollinating approximately 75% of the fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Millions and millions of innocent native insects are going to die as a result of this, Yanega said today. Folks in China, Korea and Japan have lived side by side with these hornets for hundreds of years, and it has not caused the collapse of human society there. My colleagues in Japan, China and Korea are just rolling their eyes in disbelief at what kind of snowflakes we are.
But thats in Washington, in the most northwest point of the contiguous U.S., and as of today there still havent been any reported sightings, Yanega said. In the meantime, freaked-out people across the U.S. have started putting out traps, Yanega said, and state apiarists (beekeepers) in Kentucky and Tennessee have announced plans to put out traps this month.

Unfortunately, the bait in those traps a mixture of orange juice and rice cooking wine is attractive to all kinds of native insects, Yanega said, and so far, thats all people have been catching.

Considering the nuisance they can be at picnics and other outdoor events, some people might not fret about killing bees or wasps, giant or not, but they are significant beneficial insects, Yanega said. They eat several times their weight in caterpillars from peoples vegetable gardens and ornamental plants, so indiscriminately killing them does much more harm than good.
Beekeepers in Asia have learned how to adapt to the hornets, using special screens to keep them out, and Japanese honeybees have even evolved to form their own defensive tactics, creating a bee ball around invading hornets to suffocate them, according to National Geographic
I dont want to downplay this they are logistically dangerous insects. But having people in Tennessee worry about this is just ridiculous. The only people who should be bothering experts with concerns about wasp IDs are living in the northwest quadrant of Washington (state). And really, right now, nobody else in the country should even be thinking about this stuff.

https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2020-05-08/panicked-over-murder-hornets-people-are-killing-the-native-bees-we-desperately-need

https://www.businessinsider.com/dont-have-to-worry-about-us-murder-hornet-invasion-experts-2020-5
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[Waits for conspiracy theories about them having been genetically engineered as a bioweapon in a Chinese lab]

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People deliberately killing bees. Christ almighty.

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Why is the majority of the population so fucking stupid? I don't even think I'm that smart, but I'm not stupid.

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Have anymore even been found? We have no reason to be stupid over this yet, I don't even think a nest has been found yet. And these people are basically doing what we're afraid the hornet will do if it gains a foothole here.
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Politics posted...

Why is the majority of the population so fucking stupid?

Stupidity is the one truly inexhaustible natural resource.

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If people just go ahead and kill themselves then they won't get stung.

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LeperMessiahXX posted...

Have anymore even been found? We have no reason to be stupid over this yet, I don't even think a nest has been found yet. And these people are basically doing what we're afraid the hornet will do if it gains a foothole here.

Not yet, but professional eradicators and beekeepers have been actively on the lookout for them since they would be a much bigger threat to bees than humans... and some goofballs are harming our own bees due to fear of the threat. Theres probably a lesson there somewhere.
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Can we get some armed guards for critical animals like bees... they are endangered enough as it is

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WesternMedia posted...

Millions and millions of innocent native insects are going to die as a result of this, Yanega said today. Folks in China, Korea and Japan have lived side by side with these hornets for hundreds of years, and it has not caused the collapse of human society there. My colleagues in Japan, China and Korea are just rolling their eyes in disbelief at what kind of snowflakes we are.

lol

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This cant be real.

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"The bees are disappearing"

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Robot bees can't get here soon enough. Save the bees people.

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Evening_Dragon posted...

People deliberately killing bees. Christ almighty.

We are the problem

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Didnt they only find one? And it was dead.

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Evening_Dragon posted...

People deliberately killing bees. Christ almighty.

I don't think it's deliberate. They are probably trying to attract the Asian hornets but not realising that the bait attracts native bees too.
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LeperMessiahXX posted...

Have anymore even been found? We have no reason to be stupid over this yet, I don't even think a nest has been found yet. And these people are basically doing what we're afraid the hornet will do if it gains a foothole here.

>let's wait until it gets worse before we do something about it

just like COVID-19

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4hEr8cTu-k

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people are so fucking dumb it just makes me mad

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