(tense music) - I'm Starla Sampaco in the Crosscut KCTS 9 Newsroom.

Thousands of Washingtonians are enlisting in the fight against the state's so-called murder hornets.

As part of Washington's 22-week community giant hornet trapping program, residents like five year old Idira Mechez are setting up traps using plastic jugs hung from trees and filled with everyday cooking supplies, like orange juice and rice cooking wine.

The world's largest hornet, Asian giant hornets, earned their nickname mostly because they chew the heads off of live honeybees, a favorite snack.

Without honeybees, Idira says, vegetables won't grow, we won't have honey, and our flowers won't get pollinated.

Pest management expert Todd Murray says we're at a very early stage of the invasion curve of the species and that is the one time in that part of the invasion that we have a shot at actually controlling things.

I'm Starla Sampaco.

Find nonprofit Northwest news every day on Crosscut.com.

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