Murder hornets wiped out five years after first spotted in U.S. Boston 25 News [Video]

Thanks to the help of everyday people, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Washington state’s agriculture agency declared victory — murder hornets have been wiped out.

The giant hornets can be up to two inches long, have a dangerous sting and can destroy a honey bee hive in hours, The Associated Press reported.

While called murder hornets their real name is Vespa mandarinia, the Asian giant hornet or the northern giant hornet, The New York Times reported.

They first made headlines when they killed 42 people in China in 2013. The insects hurt another 1,675 people. They were initially found in British Columbia in August 2019 and in the U.S. by December of that year. A person in Whatcom County found one, and then a beekeeper said hives were attacked the next year. Experts believe the hornets go to North America in plant pots or shipping containers.

The hornets decapitate the bees and take over the hive to …