Asian Giant Hornets - First invasive nest in US found and eradicated, pg4

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**Dysartes**

RiTides wrote:
Of course, my first choice would be to have nothing to do with the "eradication" part personally, anyway . Who ya gonna call...

I'm not sure a ghost trap is going to be very effective against a Murder Hornet nest, but I imagine the energy streams from a proton pack would do a number on a nest - especially if you were to cross them.

They might want to go with a more substantial set of overalls, though.

**NinthMusketeer**

...you do know the hornets are reincarnated spirits of the angry dead, right?

**Dukeofstuff**

Ahem. he was not wrong, with the shotgun idea, but it wasn't taken NEAR far enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLFn_XoUl1E

Now, that's hornets, right? And a shotgun. And I am betting that queen never bothered anyone again, nor did its eggs crawl away to spawn new tyran... er .. wasp faction armies.

**Matt Swain**

That guy was using dragonsbreath shotgun rounds which i don't recommend.

https://youtu.be/_t16K1tpheM

And honestly, a few quick shots or several guys firing at the same time will likely tear the nest apart and kill most bugs in it, especially the queen. I've seen people doing it when i was a kid.

Not the best way, of course, but better than nothing.

**NinthMusketeer**

I am sure encouraging groups of people to go out with shotguns to shoot wasp nests simultaneously would end well.

**greenskin lynn**

NinthMusketeer wrote:
I am sure encouraging groups of people to go out with shotguns to shoot wasp nests simultaneously would end well.

well, it depends on the ratings when they put it on history channel

**NinthMusketeer**

Fair enough!

**Matt Swain**

NinthMusketeer wrote:
I am sure encouraging groups of people to go out with shotguns to shoot wasp nests simultaneously would end well.

I'm not actively encouraging it, i'm saying IT WILL HAPPEN. Trust me, I saw this happen when i was a kid, with ordinary wasps or hornets, i don't remember. Once someone sees a chance to be a real big hero by blasting g a nest of these killer hornets, it's gonna happen. Best we can do is hope it goes well. (Now where's an orkicon of someone crossing his fingers when you need one?!)

Well, that and wait for the inevitable youtube video, of course.

**NinthMusketeer**

I got a different impression from this post last page:

Matt Swain wrote:
I'm not trolling.

A nest can only create more nests if queens breed new queens which mature and leave. Destroy the nest, kill the queen and the surviving drones are a nuisance at worst.

A few 12 gauge rounds of birdshot thru the center of mass is quite likely going to kill the queen, the eggs and destroy the nest.

If a nest is destroyed before a new queen martures and leaves then you've reduced further spread. Reduce it enough, kill enough nests, be it with gas of birdshot, and the problem is solved.

Make sure the rural types know about these and the trouble they can cause and they'll be looking out for them, and dealing with them. Ask nice and they might even report the nests they destroy to aid in tracking. These people may have a bad image but seriously, they are a resource that can be used here. Reach out to them with respect, offer some bounties on these nests and i think they'll go a good way to stopping these. Yes, even with shotguns,because a shotgun blast to a nest is pretty likely to kill the immobile queen and hopefully her eggs too.

It seems like you were very much saying to encourage it.

**Matt Swain**

Ideally i'd like anyone anywhere seeing murder hornets and a possible nest to report it, but i know in modern america that's not going to happen in a lot of places.

Let's face it, millions of people won't follow guidelines of dealing with covid, d'you you really think they're going to follow common sense guidelines on dealing with these things?

They're not. So in those cases, yes, I would hope they'd decide to do a DIY job on the net and , maybe, destroy it and stop it spreading.

I'm just facing the reality that if a lot of people are told that "there is a problem and this is the best solution" you can bet you favorite body part they won't do it.

Sometimes a less than optimal response to a bad situation is the best you can hope for.

**Alpharius**

It looks like American Grotsnik has reached a new low! Good thing he's not leading the charge on the Murder Hornet issue in the USA - or anywhere else!

**RiTides**

So, apparently honey bees have figured out that if they cover their hive entrances in feces, asian giant hornets won't attack them

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/12/honeybees-use-tools-dung-repels-giant-hornets/

It's pretty ingenious, actually, and they're calling it the first tool use found in bees! (If the link above asks you to sign up, just refresh the page and it should let you view it normally again)

**NinthMusketeer**

Kind of a crappy solution if you ask me.

**Alpharius**

...better than some we've seen in this thread though!

**Grey Templar**

RiTides wrote:
So, apparently honey bees have figured out that if they cover their hive entrances in feces, asian giant hornets won't attack them

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/12/honeybees-use-tools-dung-repels-giant-hornets/

It's pretty ingenious, actually, and they're calling it the first tool use found in bees! (If the link above asks you to sign up, just refresh the page and it should let you view it normally again)

I don't think that actually qualifies as tool use. A Tool is an object that a creature actively uses to alter its environment. A dung blockade of your entrance is just an act of construction, no different to constructing the rest of the hive actually. It certainly is no more tool use for the bees than them crafting their honeycomb.

Now if the Bees were using chunks of dung to attack the hornets when being attacked, that would be tool use.

**NinthMusketeer**

Hey! gakky tools are still tools!

**Grey Templar**

Funny, but jokes aside it's clearly not tool use. Tool use is the act of actively manipulating an object to manipulate another object. IE: Using a part of your body to perform an action with the Tool to do something directly to another object/creature.

These bees are just putting poo around their doors and letting it passively drive the hornets away. That is, quite explicitly, not tool use.

**NinthMusketeer**

Trying to flush that theory away?

**RiTides**

Grey Templar, Yeah at the end of the article there is some debate between experts on both sides of the "is this tool use?" question. But quite frankly, I think the theory stinks.....

**Matt Swain**

https://news.sky.com/story/flamethrowing-drone-used-to-torch-wasp-nests-in-china-12158711?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter&fbclid=IwAR1djmHoEaV_dEceYhaT1N-VHRXr_tqJMhMvtrHawAgwz-dFW7cEI7Jvxl8

**Overread**

Just keep in mind that is in their native habitat so there is reduced (if no) ecological risk from those hives. It's purely for human benefit to remove them

This is excluding if human environments are causing a surge in populations resulting in them being able to sustain (if only in the short term) abnormally high populations and thus cause ecological damage that way.

**BobtheInquisitor**

Alpharius wrote:
...better than some we've seen in this thread though!

Would it improve things if we found a way to utilize a shotgun and feces at the same time?

**Azreal13**

Overread wrote:
Just keep in mind that is in their native habitat so there is reduced (if no) ecological risk from those hives. It's purely for human benefit to remove them

If you read the article there's apparently over 100 nests in one village, hence the action being taken.

Also, they're a wasp, so not anything to do with this thread other than they're vaguely genetically related.

**Dukeofstuff**

Those drones are not in fact BEE drones, are they? I am afraid to open that link now for fear of that mental image. Tiny little flames...

**NinthMusketeer**

BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Alpharius wrote:
...better than some we've seen in this thread though!

Would it improve things if we found a way to utilize a shotgun and feces at the same time?

"What are you doing?"
"Oh just shooting gak."