Experts say ‘murder hornets’ are overhyped

Initial reports stirred up a hornets’ nest, but scientists say stay calm.

Numerous bee and hornet experts are telling people not to freak out about the “murder hornets,” saying they’ve been overhyped by the media.

“This is 99% media hype and frankly I’m getting tired of it,” Doug Tallamy, a University of Delaware entomologist told the Associated Press. “Murder hornet? Please.”

Asian giant hornets, known by some researchers as “murder hornets” for the way they kill bees, not people, were spotted in the U.S. for the first time ever in December 2019.

The hornets live up to their “giant” name, at least by hornet standards, growing up to two inches long.

But when it comes to murder, they don’t often target people and only kill a few dozen per year. The experts were quick to point out the other pests are much deadlier to humans.

“People are afraid of the wrong thing,” University of Illinois entomologist May Berenbaum told the AP. “The scariest insect out there are mosquitoes. People don’t think twice about them. If anyone’s a murder insect, it would be a mosquito.”

Mosquitoes do in fact kill millions of people worldwide every year, far more than the 50 or so humans felled by the murder hornets.

North American honeybees, however, are in real danger if Asian giant hornets make their way across the Pacific.

The murder hornets get their felonious name from the way they decapitate bees and take over their hives. With bees already dying at an alarming rate, the Asian giant hornets could put an even deeper sting in the American honey industry.

But experts emphasized that people are not bees and therefore should not worry.