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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nby\u00a0Reuven Fenton and Kate Sheehy. (5-3-20)\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s not a matter of if but when the \u201cmurder hornet\u2019\u2019 will hit the East Coast, experts warned The Post on Sunday.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe deadly meat-eating Asian giant hornet, which has been known to kill up to 50 people a year in Japan, recently surfaced for the first time in the US in Washington state \u2014 and New York City beekeepers say there is no way it won\u2019t make its way here, too.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cI told the NYPD back in 2012 \u2026 \u2018Your problem is not the bees. This [the murder hornet] is your problem,\u2019\u201d recalled retired Police Department beekeeper Anthony \u201cTony Bees\u201d Planakis.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cI showed them a picture of it, and they go, \u2018What the hell is that?\u2019 \u201d Planakis said. \u201cI go, \u2018That is an Asian hornet. My suit is useless against that thing.\u2019\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nAsked if the monstrous insects are dangerous to humans, Planakis added, \u201cAbsolutely. Oh, my God.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cHave you seen the mandibles on these things?\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe hornets, the world\u2019s largest at more than 2 inches long, were first spotted in Washington in December, likely having made their way to the U.S. aboard a ship from China, experts said.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nPlanakis said he expects them to arrive East at least in the next two to three years.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nHe said that in terms of eventual local infiltration, city green spaces in the outer boroughs are the most likely places.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cAll it takes is a few hornets, and you\u2019ve got a colony,\u201d Planakis said.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nSpots such as the Bronx Botanical Gardens are ideal because there\u2019s plenty of open space and lots of food, he said. Parks in general would be attractive to the giant hornets, although you won\u2019t find them in very urban spots such as Manhattan because they tend to nest in the ground or burrow in rotted wood, he said.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nManhattan beekeeper Andrew Cote said it \u201ccould be years before they make a foothold [on the East Coast] \u2014 or they could end up in the back of somebody\u2019s truck and be here in four days.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nEither way, the carnivorous insect \u201cis here to stay\u201d in the U.S., he said.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cWe can expect them to be everywhere on the continent in time. \u2026 It\u2019s a done deal,\u201d Cote said. \u201cThere\u2019s no way to contain it to the West Coast.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nHe said he saw the giant hornets on a trip to China in 2017, where \u201clocal beekeepers there used small bats that looked like miniature cricket bats\u201d to hit the hornets mid-air.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cIt sounded like someone hitting a rock. The hornets are extraordinarily aggressive,\u201d Cote said.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cThe prospect of my semi-defenseless bees having to confront them sends chills up my spine.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe killer hornet \u201ccan decimate a honey-bee colony because it needs to build up protein for its own colony, so it decapitates and consumes part of the honey bee,\u201d Cote said.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nPlanakis said the hornet\u2019s stinger \u201cis approximately a quarter of an inch,\u201d compared to the one-sixteenth of an inch for a honey bee.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a little bit bigger than a cicada,\u201d he said of the hornet. \u201cYou\u2019ll see the tip of the stinger, but it\u2019s not until it actually extends the stinger out that it goes into your skin. And they\u2019re meat-eaters. \u2026 They\u2019ll go after birds, small sparrows if they have to.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nPlanakis said that inside their venom \u201cis a pheromone, which is like a magnet to other hornets.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cSo you can get swarmed just from getting stung by one.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cThe worst thing anyone can do with these things is kill them,\u201d he said. \u201cThat scent is going to be airborne, and the rest of the hive will come.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cGetting stung is extremely painful, and anyone who is allergic, heaven help them,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd they don\u2019t sting you one time. They have the ability to sting you multiple times. Honeybees can only sting you once, and then they die.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nStill, \u201cyou have to understand, out in the wild, unless you go up to their hive, they\u2019re not going to sit there and just seek you out,\u201d the beekeeper said. \u201cThere\u2019s got to be a reason for them to come at you.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nCote said bees can fight back by swarming a hornet if it gets in their hive and suffocating it.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nMeanwhile, beekeepers can make the entrance to their beehives smaller to limit the number of hornets getting in at a time, or place \u201ca roach motel for hornets\u2019\u2019 outside of hives that consists of a cage with meat in it to attract, and then trap, the carnivorous insects, said Cote, author of the upcoming book \u201cHoney and Venom: Confessions of an Urban Beekeeper.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nPlanakis said that in China, they have hornet hunters.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a tracker, and what they do is they set up a water source, and they wait there, like a deer hunter would,\u201d he said.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cAs soon as they see the hornet coming to the water source to drink, the guy jumps out with a net, and he grabs it. Then, ever so carefully, he ties a strong on it and lets it go.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a spotter watching it now with binoculars, and he watches this thing as it flies, because obviously it\u2019s going to fly back to the nest. When they find it, they mark where the nest is.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cAnd at night they come back and with a flame-thrower, pretty much go at it, just follow them back to their base camp, and when they least expect it, boom, go after them.\u201d\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by\u00a0Reuven Fenton and Kate Sheehy. (5-3-20) It\u2019s not a matter of if but when the \u201cmurder hornet\u2019\u2019 will hit the East Coast, experts warned The Post on Sunday. The deadly meat-eating Asian giant hornet, which has been known to kill … Continue reading