Northern Giant Hornet Update for Summer 2023

NORTHERN GIANT HORNET STAKEHOLDER UPDATE #23.03 – June 02, 2023

WATCH A WASP NEST PROGRAM – LOOKING FOR PARTICIPATION

Join the Watch A Paper Wasp Nest Program to help monitor for hornets.

To participate, first find paper wasp nests and log their locations with WSDA. Then each week visit the nests, watch them, and log observations on the online check-in form.

In 2021, WSDA tracked a hornet to a paper wasp nest. The hornet was raiding the paper wasp larvae. It continued to return to the nest and each visit lasted five to ten minutes. By joining the Watch A Paper Wasp Nest Program, you could also be watching for northern giant hornets!

Are you interested and want to help monitor for hornets? Discover links to the Watch A Paper Wasp Nest program in the latest blog here.

A group of bees on a piece of wood

Description automatically generated with medium confidence

PREPARING FOR TRAPPING

WSDA TRAPPING

Hornet trapping efforts will initially focus on northwest Whatcom County. The gridded area in the picture below represents a survey grid. This helps crews decide how many traps to place and where WSDA will deploy over 1,100 traps when the season starts in July.

A picture of the WSDA hornet trapping grid in Whatcom County, showing where single, double, and triple trapping will take place.

COOPERATOR TRAPPING

Cooperators are organizations that coordinate efforts to monitor multiple traps throughout Washington state. Their employees, volunteers, and members donate their time to placing and monitoring traps. Organizations include Anacortes Parks and Recreation, National Park Service, Samish Indian Nation, Port of Anacortes, U.S. Forest Service, WSU Extension, Department of Natural Resources, Washington State Parks, Pacific Rim Institute, Island County Department of Natural Resources, Washington State Parks, Mt. Baker Beekeeper Association, bp Cherry Point Refinery, Whatcom County Parks, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, City of Bellingham, Port of Bellingham, Whatcom County Land Trust, Sound Water Stewards, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Washington State Department of Transportation, SnoKing Beekeepers Association, United States Department of Agriculture, and Lummi Island Heritage Trust. If your organization is interested in becoming a cooperator, please e-mail Cassie at hornets@agr.wa.gov for more information.

Young man in front of garage with dozens of hornet traps that he made.

PUBLIC TRAPPING

Public hornet trapping starts right around the corner beginning in July. It’s time to gather materials and build your bottle traps! Trapping can be fun but it can also be a commitment. It will require you to log your traps on WSDA’s online mapping system and check your traps weekly.

Hornet bottle trap hanging from a tree branch.

Boy dumping hornet contents into a screen over a bucket.

NEW DETECTIONS

There have been no new detections for 2023. You can view all current and years past detection on our Northern Giant Hornet Public Dashboard here.

Update from Canada

British Columbia had no new detections in 2022. They plan to trap this summer and ask the public to report suspected sightings.

INTERACTIVE ARTICLE

How well can you pick a northern giant hornet out of a lineup? The New York Times published a story where you can test your identification skills out, view the science article here.

REPORTING NORTHERN GIANT HORNET

If you suspect to see a northern giant hornet, please report it. If possible, please include:

Your name and contact information
Location and date of the sighting
Photograph of the insect (we generally cannot confirm a report without a photo or specimen)

If you cannot take a photo, include a description of the size of the insect, the color of the head and body, and what it was doing.

If possible, note the direction the hornet(s) flew when flying away.

You can report sightings by visiting our Hornet Watch Report Form.