JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
A lot of headlines in 2020 were rough, but one particular story felt like a nightmare on top of a bad dream.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: Murder hornets found in Washington State. The insects can be deadly to humans...
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: The two-inch hornets are equipped with a stinger long enough to pierce through a beekeeping suit.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #3: The hornets can destroy an entire beehive in a matter of hours.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #4: They slaughtered every last bee in the entire colony.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #5: They had all been chopped the bits. They were decapitated.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #6: Ground nests could be hidden in plain sight.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #7: And spread across the country with potentially disastrous consequences.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Well, we have news. The Washington State and U.S. Departments of Agriculture announced yesterday that invasive northern giant hornets, which are nicknamed murder hornets, have been eradicated from the country. They haven't been detected in Washington - the only state with confirmed reports - since 2021.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SVEN SPICHIGER: It's a significant victory for everybody who's involved in all of Washington - can actually be proud, especially those who hung traps and those who called in reports.
SUMMERS: Sven Spichiger is pest program manager of the Washington Department of Agriculture. At a virtual news conference, he said they got thousands and thousands of public reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SPICHIGER: Every time a hornet was flying around and visiting somebody's window, we seemed to get a call about it. We even got a call about one visiting somebody's doorbell cam.
SUMMERS: That allowed officials to devise an eradication plan.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SPICHIGER: Set out traps. If you find them, switch them to live traps. When you get a live hornet, follow it back to its nest, and then take out the nest.
CHANG: Dental floss and a tiny radio tracking tag helped researchers follow one live hornet back to its nest. Spichiger said time was of great importance.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SPICHIGER: It was a little scary because there were a lot of newly emerging queens right inside that nest. We believe we got there right in time. And these same sorts of efforts led to the detection of three additional nests, which we eradicated in 2021.
SUMMERS: Wildlife officials remain vigilant. This year the state of Georgia has been trying to eliminate the invasive yellow-legged hornet, which also preys on bees. And this month researchers confirmed that southern giant hornets have been discovered in Europe for the first time.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SPICHIGER: We're always going to have to keep on guard, but we can definitely declare victory here today. I got to tell you, as an entomologist, I've been doing this for over 25 years now, and it is a rare day when the humans actually get to win one against the insects.
CHANG: We reached out to honeybees, who declined to comment, although they appear to be buzzing with excitement.
(SOUNDBITE OF ANDERSON .PAAK SONG, "FIRE IN THE SKY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
