New York Post, Sunday, October 25, 2020
nypost.com
By Laura ItaLIanoThat’s one small step for man,
one giant vacuum ride toward
oblivion for hornet-kind.
Space-suited bug specialists
vacuumed up a hive of murder
hornets in Washington state on
Saturday, capping a monthslong
effort to swat back the invasive,
bee-slaughtering pest.
“Got ’em,” the state’s Depart-
ment of Agriculture tweeted Sat-
urday afternoon, along with pho-
tos of the specialists’ efforts.
The basketball-sized hive was
hidden in the hollow of a tree in
woods near the British Colum-
bia, Canada, border 100 miles
north of Seattle, officials said.
It was the first nest of the ven-
omous, 2-inch-long insect — real
name Asian giant hornets — to
be located after almost a year of
worrisome individual sightings
of the bug in the region.
The hornets are native to Asia,
where their stings kill a dozen
people a year. It’s unknown how
they got to Washington state and
British Columbia.
To find the hive, state entomol-
ogists first trapped three hornets
— and kept them alive by feeding
them strawberry jam — before
tying radio tracking devices to
their abdomens with dental floss.
The hornets were then tracked
back to their hive, which was
well-hidden in the tree.
Given that the hornets have
venomous, 6-millimeter-long
stingers, which can kill people as
well as other insects, entomolo-
gists had to dress in thick protec-
tive suits for the next part.
They sealed the tree cavity
with foam, covered it with plastic
wrap, and then inserted a tube
inside to suck the buggers out
into a collection chamber.
“We extract them alive,” said
state entomologist Erik Spichi-
ger. “We will kill them.”
The tree will be cut down so
the entomologists can extract
and kill the larvae and, ideally,
find the queen — so long as she
hasn’t hightailed it out of there to
start a new hive.Sting OP a buzzkill
sucker punch: Outfitted in protective suits, bug experts descend on a hive of Asian giant hornets — better known as murder hornets —
hidden in a tree outside Blaine, Wash. on Saturday, first wrapping the trunk in plastic and then sucking out the invasive bugs with a vacuum.Photos: APTwo people close to Vice
President Mike Pence, his
chief-of-staff and a senior
political adviser, have
tested positive for corona-
virus, according to reports.
Chief of Staff Marc Short
tested positive for COV-
ID-19 on Saturday, the vice
president’s office said in
a statement to The NewYork Times.
Top adviser Marty Obst
had tested positive on
Wednesday, Bloomberg
News reported.
Pence, meanwhile, “will
maintain his schedule in
accordance with the CDC
guidelines for essential
personnel,” his office said.
Tamar LapinVirus hits 2 veep aides
Polish President Andrzej
Duda has tested positive for
coronavirus but insists he
feels fine, and is apologiz-
ing to those who have to
quarantine because they
were exposed to him.
“Believe me, I had no
symptoms. If I had knew I
had coronavirus, all meet-
ings would have been can-celed,” he told Polish TV. “I
remain in isolation along
with my wife and will be
working remotely.”
Duda, 48, is trim and
doesn’t have any underlying
conditions such as diabetes
that would make him vul-
nerable to complications
from the infection.
Dana KennedyCOV strikes Poland prez
SEOUL, South Korea —
Lee Kun-hee, the ailing Sam-
sung Electronics chairman
who transformed the small
TV maker into a global giant
of consumer electronics, has
died. He was 78.
He died on Sunday with
his family members, includ-
ing son and company chief
Lee Jae-yong, by his side.Lee Kun-hee had been
hospitalized since May 2014
after suffering a heart attack
and the younger Lee has
run Samsung, the biggest
company in South Korea.
Lee Kun-hee inherited con-
trol from his father and dur-
ing 30 years of leadership,
Samsung Electronics Co. be-
came a global brand. APSamsung big dies at 78