Two murder hornet queens that escaped last weekend’s vacuuming of their nest in a Washington State tree have been captured. The Washington Department of Agriculture said at least one of the queens is a “virgin,” which means it was still developing the reproductive system that would allow it to lay eggs and populate a colony. Entomologists used radio trackers on a hornet to find the Blaine nest and then dispatched a crew in heavy protective equipment to suction as many as they could into plastic tubes. The tree was taken down on Wednesday, and that’s when the queens were found. The scientists plan to remove the section of the tree that contained the nest on Thursday.
