Terrifying video shows bees ganging up on ‘murder hornets’ which can kill humans

A swarm of Japanese bees took on a deadly ‘murder hornet’ by ganging up on it and killing it.

The Asian giant hornet can grow as large as two-and-a-half inches long and can deliver multiple stings with toxic venom capable of killing a human – hence its ‘murder hornet’ nickname.

And hundreds of the insects have reportedly been sighted in Blaine, Washington, close to the Canadian border.

And terrifying video footage has been released showing what happened when one entered a bees’ nest looking for its next meal. They teamed up to attack it.

The narrator in the video says: ‘Then, one is caught. It’s the signal the others have been waiting for.

‘Surrounded by vibrating bodies, the hornet at the core of the bee ball begins to overheat. The bees have the advantage, with heat tolerance two degrees above that of their enemy. At 46C, the aggressor is roasted alive.’

Aside from the danger to humans, the murder hornet also poses a huge risk to agriculture and the apiary industry, as it usually feasts on honey bees, with just a few being capable of wiping out an entire hive in hours.

The hornets apparently enter a ‘slaughter phase’ where they kill bees by decapitating them.

They then defend the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young – so the above footage could be unusual.

It comes as scientists in the US said they are drawing up plans to eradicate swarms of the potentially fatal hornets.

Typically found in eastern and southeastern Asia, between 30 and 50 people die each year in Japan from the hornets’ stings.

When populations were particularly high in 2013 they killed 42 in one Chinese province alone. Most serious incidents stem from people approaching or disturbing their nests.

A web page set up in the US after the first discovery to chart additional sightings has received hundreds of reports and agriculture officials have warned the public not to try and tackle nests themselves.

The hornets can sting through most standard beekeeper suits, prompting experts to order specially reinforced ones from China.

Sven-Erik Spichiger, managing entomologist at the Washington state agriculture department, said: ‘What we’re told from the literature is that most people can survive one or two stings. But if you sustain multiple stings, the necrosis and the venom will actually start getting into your bloodstream and will start working on your organs. And multiple stings could literally be fatal.

‘Pollination is a huge part of agriculture and the agricultural systems we have here in the United States. And so if this were to become well-established and then start spreading, it could be pretty catastrophic.’

Nobody knows how the ‘murder hornet’ invaded the US. The most likely scenario is that it arrived on a container ship docking at one of Washington’s ports.

According to Washington State University, the Asian giant hornet’s life cycle begins in April when the queens emerge from hibernation.

They feed on plant sap and fruit and search for underground dens to build their nests.

The insects are most destructive in the late summer and early autumn. Like a marauding army, they attack honey bee hives, killing adult bees and devouring bee larvae and pupae.

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