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As if COVID-19! wasn’t scary enough, there is a new peril in our little corner of the universe and it has a face that could easily end up on the poster of a Hollywood horror movie.

Say hello to your new neighbor, the Asian Giant Hornet. Last November, beekeeper Ted McFall was checking hives in nearby Custer in Whatcom County, and came across thousands and thousands of dead bee carcasses. Inside the hive, McFall discovered thousands of headless bees.

McFall came to suspect Asian giant hornets, who use their giant spiked mandibles to destroy a honeybee hive. They decapitate their victims and fly off with their thoraxes to feed their young. The queens can grow to two inches long.

This is no Disney movie. Their stingers and potent venom can be used on larger targets, and these hornets are known to kill up to 50 people a year in Japan. The best animators could not come up with a scarier looking beast.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture suggests that if you run into these little killers, run in the other direction and inform the department about the sighting so they can send a team to hopefully eradicate the intruders.

State officials are asking people in Whatcom, Skagit, Island, San Juan, Jefferson and Clallam counties to be especially vigilant. “The most likely time to catch Asian giant hornets is from July to October – when colonies are established and workers are out foraging,” according to a statement from the Washington State Department of Agriculture. “Traps can be hung as early as April if attempting to trap queens, but since there are significantly fewer queens than workers, catching a queen isn’t very likely.”

Bees are essential to our food chain. They pollinate plants, producing fruits, nuts and vegetables and are crucial to our nation’s food industry, which is already being compromised as meat packing plants are being forced to close. Attacks by the hornets risk decimating bees, which are already on endangered lists as their numbers decline.

Dr. Tim Lawrence, Assistant Professor at WSU Extension in Mount Vernon, said it’s too early to tell how great the impact will be. “We don’t know yet,” he said. “It could be major or just a flash in the pan.”

Lawrence said if the effect is major, it could have a very negative effect on raspberry and blueberry crops.

He pointed out that Whidbey Island has very similar terrain to the part of Japan that the Hornets come from so there is concern. They reach their peak in July and could be around for the years. “It’s not time to panic just yet”, he said. “They won’t be chasing school buses down the road. My hope is that in three to five years we will learn that we dodged a bullet.”