11 children stung by wasps in Fukuoka Pref

"wasps attacked them at around 7:30 a.m., Fuji TV reported." This is what living in a safe country means: wasp attack with no serious injuries gets on national news!

Luckily noone was killed. Anually, about 30-40 people die because of suzumebachi in Japan!

Wikipedia says this about hornets, but probably they're just trying to confuse things:

Hornets are insects, and the largest eusocial wasps.

Wow, they're solar-powered!:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_hornet

The hornet has a yellow stripe on its cuticle (exoskeleton) which can absorb sunlight to generate a small electrical potential, and it has been suggested that this might help supply energy for digging.

Got stung by one in Nobeoka, Miyazaki last year and those stings hurt. Poor kids I feel for them.

Wasps are no joke! They're basically hornets on acid and steroids. Only thing worse than them are killer bees...

Wasps? no, they were more specifically Hornets, Japanese Giants Hornets, there is quite big difference really. To most of us Wasps are yellowjackets and paper wasps (long legged wasps) Suzumebachi are hornets.

Typical human arrogance. Boy scouts invade the insects' territory and the insects face genocide for defending their home? Great job, scout leader, you deserve a swift kick.

Having taken more than 30 hits in less than a minute from the little buggers, which caused no end of swelling and temporary pain, I have to agree, THIS ISN'T NEWS!!!

@TrevorPeace. Complete baloney. 30 stings by any bee would put you in the hospital. 30 stings from スズメバチ would kill an adult.

They were スズメバチ.

Good for them to have escaped with minor injuries. Hope they have enjoyed the boy scout camp without having a bee in their bonnet about the painful experience this time.

to carry out disinfestation work in the area later Monday.

there are natural ways to control infestation of pests. the use of artificial insecticides or pesticide can only hurt the environment (and also humans) and the chemicals can stay in the environment for long period of time. better to choose natural controls over man-made ones.

Complete baloney. 30 stings by any bee would put you in the hospital. 30 stings from スズメバチ would kill an adult.

Well said.

Ive just googleスズメバチ, they look like they can give a nasty sting, hope the kids are not traumatised by this unlucky event

@turbostat: Nice info. You should have been here for the volcano and nuclear power plant couch judges and juries and especially for the shark fright. Keep feeding the true stats. Shalom my friend.

@samwatters, you don't know crap. I've got the photos to prove it. And I didn't end up in hospital. Some of us just aren't allergic, you know. But then, of course you don't.

Is there some kind of repellent one can spray over various areas of his or her person in order to keep these ominous insects away??? Of all the living things that become extinct it is too bad the asian giant hornet is not one of them.

Is there some kind of repellent one can spray over various areas of his or her person in order to keep these ominous insects away???

Shotcrete or papier mache.

Poor kids, I hope they will recover.

Doesn't say what kind of wasp, some a tiny little buggers.......

Unless these where suzumibachi & near where people are all the time no need to exterminate!

These two species (below) are not the same hornet, but 30 stings could kill an adult, but doesn't always, apparently. I wouldn't disbelieve TrevorPeace just because some people die from that many stings.

http://ndt.oxfordjournals.org/content/25/4/1146.long

Swarming hornet attacks: shock and acute kidney injury—a large case series from Vietnam

... Methods. We reviewed the records of 65 patients at Cho Ray Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) attacked by swarms of the lesser banded hornet, Vespa affinis. Patients were divided into four groups. Groups A and B presented within 3 days of attack and C and D after 3 days with ≤50 or >50 stings, respectively.

Results. Varying degrees of acute kidney injury (AKI) were seen in 38 (58.5%) patients in all groups. Twenty nine required renal replacement therapy. AKI was likely to be myoglobin and toxin induced with a clinical course consistent with acute tubular injury. The prognosis for renal recovery is excellent in those who survive. Seven patients (one from Group A and six from Group B) developed non-anaphylactic shock which led to four deaths. The predominant finding in Groups C and D who sought delayed tertiary care is renal failure.

Conclusions. This cases which illustrate the varied effects of hornet venom and the need to be vigilant for shock within the first 2 days and persistent AKI beyond 3 days of attack.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_giant_hornet

Japanese giant hornet ... The potency of the sting is due to the relatively large amount of venom injected.[4] Being stung is extremely painful and can require hospitalization. Asian giant hornet stings can cause anaphylactic shock in allergic people, and can still be lethal to people who are not allergic, provided the dose is sufficient. Advice in China is that people stung more than 10 times need medical help, and emergency treatment for more than 30 stings. The stings can cause renal failure. Thirty to forty people die in Japan every year after having been stung.

"Complete baloney. 30 stings by any bee would put you in the hospital."

Not necessarily. I got stung lots by 泥スズメバチ when I was a kid, to the point when my mom put me in a bath, they were floating to the surface of the water, were in my pockets, etc. Maybe if you have an allergy or medical condition or something like that.

Having taken more than 30 hits in less than a minute from the little buggers, which caused no end of swelling and temporary pain, I have to agree, THIS ISN'T NEWS!!!