Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

axios.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 398 posts

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#51

Post by datameta »

hcurtiss wrote: post #40

I wonder why they didn't use an insecticide on the nest. The exterminator I hired used a powder on the entry to our attic and the Yellowjackets carried it into the nest and it wiped out the whole thing brilliantly (and we sealed the hole). A targeted application would require very little product. With a powder, it would also kill any insects that got away, and it could trace/damage other nests if the hornet moved to…

It seems most likely that they wanted to avoid killing the hornets. Perhaps to study them and find out which native Japanese population of hornets they came from in order to stem the flow of this invasive species. Could even be simply to preserve life.

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#52

Post by forgotmypw17 »

Universal rhyme would dictate that machine intelligence is learning our behavior and one day apply it to us when it is in charge.

All children eventually become stronger than their parents, and most parents reap what they sow, and are treated a combination of how they treated their parents and their children.

In this case, our ancestors is all the other DNA-based life on earth, and our children are silicon machines.

Now, think about how we are treating the animals and also the machines (yelling at, cursing out, smashing, being very impatient with, expecting perfection)

The picture is downright scary.

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#53

Post by anm89 »

jameshart wrote: post #41
Exmoor wrote: post #19

It makes me a little nauseous to think about all the resources going to tracking down these insects, but this is truly an area where an ounce of prevention is worth many pounds of cure. The scope of North America's invasive species problem is enormous. For many folks in urban areas, it's possible that you might go your whole day only encountering one native bird species (American Crow), but a whole host of invasive s…

‘All the resources’ make you nauseous? Seems like a weird reaction. Washington State department of agriculture’s budget is public information; they spend about a quarter of a billion dollars a year on all their programs. I can’t imagine this particular operation is making much of a dent in that overall spend. According to the captions of those photographs, they have entomologists and pest control specialists on staff…

People are living, shitting, and dying en masse on the streets of LA who need food and basic sanitation but you really can't even imagine a non malicious interpretation of someone saying paying for teams of bubble suited wasp chasers seems like potentially a misallocation of resources?

Or do you just generally like to bully anyone who challenges any form of government spending by attacking strawmen?

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#54

Post by bloak »

samcheng wrote: post #5

I've never had to deal with a murder hornet infestation, but I can approve of their 'vacuum' method for clearing yellowjacket nests in high-traffic areas. Partially fill a shop vac with soapy water, stick the nozzle as close to the nest entrance as possible, then turn on the vacuum and hear the wasps get sucked into the machine as they try to enter or exit the nest. It takes a few hours, and potentially a couple of s…

I'm no expert, but I've read a bit about Vespula vulgaris (the most common sort of wasp in the UK) and tackled a few nests in the past.

My impression is that if you put a vacuum cleaner next to the entrance you may, if you're lucky, catch nearly all the wasps that leave the nest, but the queen never leaves the nest, and the eggs and larvae don't leave the nest, and I think there may also be some workers that stay in the nest looking after the larvae, so things will be quieter after you've finished vacuuming, but the colony will probably regenerate itself in a week or so.

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#56

Post by jessriedel »

freedomben wrote: post #12
jessriedel wrote: post #4

So they really think the infestation is small enough that it's feasible to find and destroy all the nests by hand?

At this point we're super early in the spread, and as far as what I read they think this may be the only one in the US. Worth noting that one nest can create hundreds of new queens that will hibernate the winter and establish a nest in the spring. Not all will survive, but with minimal competition, and significant feeding opportunities from a mostly untapped ecosystem, many will. Destroying one nest to stop exponenti…

This seems like an either-or thing. Either you fully eradicate the species from the area, or they establish a foothold that is infeasible to remove nest-by-nest, and then they grow exponentially.

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#58

Post by Klinky »

dimitrios1 wrote: post #43
jameshart wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

‘All the resources’ make you nauseous? Seems like a weird reaction. Washington State department of agriculture’s budget is public information; they spend about a quarter of a billion dollars a year on all their programs. I can’t imagine this particular operation is making much of a dent in that overall spend. According to the captions of those photographs, they have entomologists and pest control specialists on staff…

Now how much money we spend eating out when we could be saving by cooking large meals and eating leftovers, that makes me nauseous.

If you're cooking anything with meat or imported produce, you're still damaging the environment, regardless of where it's cooked. Also your leftovers need to be put into something(often plastic) and stored in a refrigerated or frozen environment(electric/carbon costs), then reheated(electric/carbon cost). If you get tired of eating the same thing after 3 days and the rest rots away in your fridge, you've just created a ton of waste, or if you think to yourself you're going to spend 3 hours doing weekly meal-prep, but then flake out and don't do it, you just wasted everything. Some people are just terrible chefs or do not have the energy for it after working 50 - 60 hours in the week.

Also you could make a case that large houses with nice kitchens also have environmental costs to build and maintain, and living in small apartments with communal kitchens or restaurants nearby is better.

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#59

Post by lostlogin »

petertodd wrote: post #39
mrfusion wrote: post #24

Remember when killer bees were the big scare? They were moving north. Everyone was worried. Whatever happened with that? I haven’t heard about them in years.

They're still a problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ldpyIE5t4 Interestingly, that video suggests that some beekeepers actually prefer the aggressive, "africanized", bees as they can be more productive than less aggressive bees in the right situation. But they're a public health hazard, so most beekeepers choose to euthanize more aggressive hives to deliberately breed calmer, safer, bees. This video also sugges…

> most beekeepers choose to euthanize more aggressive hives to deliberately breed calmer, safer, bees.

I wander why they don’t just requeen?

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#60

Post by chiefalchemist »

Exmoor wrote: post #19

It makes me a little nauseous to think about all the resources going to tracking down these insects, but this is truly an area where an ounce of prevention is worth many pounds of cure. The scope of North America's invasive species problem is enormous. For many folks in urban areas, it's possible that you might go your whole day only encountering one native bird species (American Crow), but a whole host of invasive s…

Is there any evidence of such attempts to neuter Mother Nature actually working? Unless, global trade ceases, can this effort be maintained and successful over the long haul?

I'm not suggesting it's bad or wrong to try, only whether there's evidence that the odds favor doing so.

Post reply on HN