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Washington State Authorities Capture Two 'Murder Hornet' Queens

Authorities captured two Asian giant hornet queens, known as ‘murder hornets’, four days after officials eradicated the first nest found in the US in Blaine, Washington, on October 24.

This footage, shared by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, shows the two queens held in vials after their discovery on October 28, when the tree containing their nest was taken down.

The department said the insects were either two virgin queens or one virgin and one old queen.

Authorities vacuumed 85 worker hornets from the nest on October 24, two days after it was discovered on a private property in the city. Another 13 live hornets were collected the following day.

“This is only the start of our work to hopefully prevent the Asian giant hornet from gaining a foothold in the Pacific Northwest," managing entomologist Sven Spichiger said. "We suspect there may be more nests in Whatcom County.” Credit: WA St Dept of Agriculture via Storyful