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

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

#31

Post by ed25519FUUU »

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…

For those wondering about the soapy water, it effectively suffocates the hornets because soap allows the water to penetrate and clog the spiracles which prevents them from breathing.

Soapy water is actually a powerful insecticide against many arthropods:

https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/insects/insect-c...

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

#32

Post by petertodd »

derefr wrote: post #25
Johnny555 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt they use a socket that would allow the battery to be isolated, it's probably directly soldered in for weight and reliability. Otherwise they could just ship the battery uninstalled and let the user plug it in when he gets it. A weight of 0.15g doesn't give a lot of room for extra components like a battery socket.

Perhaps they could put a tiny antifuse in circuit with the battery inside the IC package. Supply external "programming" current to the IC, and it would melt the antifuse and get the battery going.

The whole device is encapsulated for waterproofing so supplying any current at all to it is tricky.

It says it's light activated. So likely they've put a tiny light sensor in it that the microcontroller polls occasionally during the lowest power mode. That might be a tiny solar panel too. But using that to electrically drive an electronic power switch is tricky if you don't have the budget for a custom ASIC; if you don't have that budget, you'll add a decent amount of weight in a device that tiny.

Honestly, I'm not at all surprised that they've chosen to accept a short shelf life instead. It's pretty remarkable that they can squeeze that much functionality into a 11mm long by 3.5mm diameter cylinder.

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

#33

Post by DoofusOfDeath »

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…

> No fancy beekeeper suit necessary

Does that perhaps depend on the species of wasp, or maybe the reach of the wand?

IIRC, there was one youtube video where the little bastards went straight for the dude's face during shop-vac'ing. He could smell the venom they were trying to spray in his eyes.

When one of the wasps (or hornets?) went straight for his GoPro sensor, its face filled my large monitor and I nearly had a heart attack.

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

#34

Post by chefandy »

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #30
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 have a mid-grade phobia of stinging insects and arachnids. I once blew a few hours to anxiously watching youtube videos of people destroying nasty wasp/hornet infestations. (I'm still not sure why. Probably some mix of morbid fascination and aggression fantasy.) The soapy-water-shopvac trick appeared in a lot of those videos. (Less commonly: thermite, or quad-propeller drones.)

Same w/ "bees," but not arachnids. Also blew a few hours watching nest extermination videos. I generally wish the best (within reason) for our non-human beings, but it was very cathartic.

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

#35

Post by umvi »

ethbr0 wrote: post #21

1994: We'll need airtight space suits for an Ebola outbreak. 2020: Surgical masks are a bit much to expect people to wear during a pandemic, Ebola has been circulating in Congo since 2014, and we'll need airtight space suits for a murder hornet outbreak. Truly, the 90s were a simpler time.

Had we all been wearing surgical masks in public since the 90s, probably well over a million lives would have been saved by now from flu deaths alone.

Basically, since the 90s we've put a much much higher value on human life. I expect mask usage to extend far beyond covid and handshaking to cease being a cultural greeting.

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

#37

Post by Yetanfou »

snypher wrote: post #11
sokoloff wrote: post #7

> trapping and using dental floss to tie tracking devices to the hornets What? That seems crazy (and cool) to be able to create a tracking device light enough for a hornet to fly and still have enough battery to transmit even a periodic chirp.

It is pretty cool tech. One thing I noticed is the battery is depleting from the time it's ordered; probably not a lot of room for a power switch. This one is 3x11mm and weighs 0.15g; https://atstrack.com/tracking-products/transmitters/product-...

They could be using zinc-air batteries (like those used in hearing aids) which deplete whether they're used or not.

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

#38

Post by MarkSweep »

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…

There is a guy in Japan who uses a vacuum on these wasps. I think you want to use the suit with these guys:

https://youtu.be/1WkS5fyXDqU

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

#39

Post by petertodd »

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 suggests that the high level of aggression wasn't optimal in at least some areas, so it's being evolved out and the bees are becoming less aggressive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psBomn2cPNw

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

#40

Post by hcurtiss »

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 another colony. It seems to me a vacuum would be less thorough, and I would think they'd want to be very thorough in this instance, maybe even to the point of doing both.
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