Also dubbed the murder hornet, the invasive wasps threaten pollinators and have been found in communities along both sides of the Canada-U.S. border and on Vancouver Island. B.C. officials will focus on the Fraser Valley in their efforts to track and eradicate Asian giant hornets this year.

Washington State entomologists have spent weeks searching, trapping and using dental floss to tie tracking devices to Asian giant hornets in an effort to find the nest and destroy it. The nest was first discovered Thursday in a tree cavity, about eight feet up, on private property in Blaine. Heavily protected crews with WSDA worked to eradicate the nest early Saturday morning.

Sightings of the Asian giant hornet have prompted fears that the vicious insect could establish itself in the United States and devastate bee populations.

Asian giant hornets are known to feed on honeybees and other large insects and are capable of destroying a beehive in a short time, according to the province.

Entomologists believe the invasive insect is an “old hornet from a previous season that wasn’t discovered until now” because it was “very dried out."