asian-hornet

Today the State Department of Agriculture reported the first confirmed sighting of an Asian giant hornet in Washington this year. On May 27, a resident near Custer in Whatcom County found the dead specimen while walking on a roadway.

The specimen was collected and submitted for laboratory testing the same day, and state and federal labs confirmed that the specimen was an Asian giant hornet today.
The hornet was detected near the location of a suspected Asian giant hornet bee kill in 2019.

Officials had already planned trapping in the area and will try to find any colony that may be there.

The first find of the year in the United States comes just days after the British Columbian government confirmed their first detection of the year near Langley, B.C. Since the specimens were confirmed in Washington late last year, officials have been working to create trapping and eradication plans in order to protect honey bees and the hundreds of crops in Washington that depend on those bees for pollination.

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