Hundreds of so-called “murder hornets” have been killed after officials in Washington state managed to track down and destroy their huge nest.
The Asian giant hornet nest was destroyed Wednesday near Blaine, just south of the Canadian border, according to the
Washington State Department of Agriculture.
The nest was found in the base of a dead alder tree about two miles from where the first-ever murder hornet nest was found in the US last October.
Officials vacuumed 113 live hornets from the nest and captured 67 others in the vicinity.
The nest itself had nearly 1,500 hornets in various stages of development.
The hornets had completely eradicated the inside of the tree to build their nine-layer nest, according to officials.
Officials had been trying to locate the nest ever since a resident
snapped a photo of a live hornet attacking a wasp on Aug. 11.