How Did Asian Murder Hornets Get to the US?

SAN ANGELO, TX – One of the world's deadliest insects is now in the US and scientists have no idea how they got here. 

The Asian Murder Hornet originated in Japan and is now being reported for the first time in the northwest United States. According to the New York Times, on May 2, Ted McFall, a Beekeeper from Blaine, Washington, arrived to his bee farm to finding a gruesome scene.  

McFall claims that he found his entire bee population eradicated. The interesting part was that no bodies were found instead McFall discovered thousands of bee heads that had been ripped from their bodies. 

The culprit to the attack is know as the Asian Murder Hornet or the Vespa mandarinia magnifica. This killer hornet can grow to up to two inches long, can travel sixty miles a day, and can fly up to 25 miles per hour. 

The hornet has a 6mm stinger paired with giant mandibles on its head. With these weapons they go into what is called "slaughter mode" and can completely destroy a bee hive of 30,000 bees in a matter of hours. Don't believe me?  Here's a video. 

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Scientist are still attempting to determine how the hornets got here but according to the Washington Post they have determine two possibilities. Either the hornets were hibernating inside of a ship or cargo during a transport between Asia and North America or someone brought them here. 

Washington state employees plan to try to trap hornets and destroy their nests this spring and summer before the population gets out of hand.