'Murder hornets' invading US are about to enter 'slaughter phase'

SEATTLE — Just when you think Asian giant hornets’ reputation couldn’t get any worse, they’re about to enter the “slaughter phase” when they attack in force, decapitate their victims and prey upon the brood for days.

Six “murder hornets,” as they’re sometimes called, have been caught, trapped or reported since Sept. 21 in the Blaine area, where they were first spotted in the U.S. last year.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture, or WSDA, is desperate to track down their nest and kill them before they go on their murderous rampage.

“Asian giant hornets this time of year start going into what we call the slaughter phase,” said Sven-Erik Spichiger, a department entomologist. “They will visit apiaries, basically mark a hive, attack it in force, removing every bee from the hive, decapitating them, killing all of the workers and then spending the next few days harvesting the brood and the pupae out of the hive as a food source.”

During a news conference on Facebook on Friday, Spichiger said the department believes it’s dealing with a nest and that it’s critical to find it and destroy it before the slaughter phase or new nests are made.

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