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Hornets attack 25 high school children in Iwakuni

19 Comments

Twenty-five high school students in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, were attacked and stung by yellow hornets while walking to school on Thursday morning.

City officials said Friday they have destroyed the nest which was near the route that children take to walk to school, NTV reported. Most of the children were stung on the face and head, although none of them were seriously injured in the attack.

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19 Comments
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So which of those students was The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Were these simple "mini" hornets (abu), or were they the giant "suzumebachi" hornets? A very big difference. Judging by the last phrase, it looks like it was the abu variety.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Were these simple "mini" hornets (abu), or were they the giant "suzumebachi" hornets? A very big difference. Judging by the last phrase, it looks like it was the abu variety.

I think the Green Hornet! lolz!

Someone kicked or throw something to the hornet nest that make them angry and attacked those who are near them. I hope they all fine.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Ouch! Thats gotta be painful

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Someone kicked or throw something to the hornet nest that make them angry and attacked those who are near them.

Hornets are smarter than that. They will fly right past the nearest people to attack the one who throws the rock. At least that was my experience. Lucky I was the one of those near the nest.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Those big hornets are dangerous. If you know of a nest in your neighborhood you should tell the local council and get them removed. They have killed kids in the past.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

smoke them up.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

yellow hornets are kiroi suzumebachi, about 3? times bigger than a honey bee. they are not the orange ohsuzumebachi, giant asian hornet, which is the worst. abu i thought were a biting horse fly and not hornets/wasps at all. i've been stung by the big orange hornets and smaller yellow hornet and both hurt like hell and caused large local swelling for several days. anaphalactic? shock, an extreme allergic reaction, from both suzumebachi, is reputed to kill around 40? people per year in japan. usually the 2nd time they are stung

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Good grief!! I just kinda skimmed the headlines and saw "Hornets attack 25 high school children in Iwakuni" and thought an Iwakuni Marine F-18 had attacked a school. Nice headline

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Feel sorry for the kids who got stung. I killed a hornet the other day after it flew right into my face.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

As long as it wasn't those humongous giant hornets that exist in Japan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

ebisen,

abu are NOT hornets, they BITE dont sting, you were fooled by their colours & dont have hives/nests, most abu dont do anything only the larger ones which another poster correctly refered as horse flies which are common in NAmerica.

As for hornets, they tend to get easily agitated come fall, nature of the little beasts, so best avoid them. And yes if you mess with their nests you cud be in for it!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Stung by hornets a few times especially I do go into forest to do work every now and then. Swell and little pain but didn't bother me too much.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Not much you can do in a situation like this but run and hope they lose interest. They're aggressive, don't like people near their nests, and once one attacks the sting releases pheremones that attract all other wasps in the area. It's a no-win situation.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

~ebisen~ "Were these simple "mini" hornets (abu)..." Horsefly. Abu. Japanese-sounding name and failed Japanese. ebisen...shrimp-line.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I saw osuzumebachi for the first time earlier this year when we were in fukui. Those suckers are insanely big. I swatted one coming at me with a shovel and it didn't die. It was about 2.5 cms long!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

A group of Japanese Susumebachi can kill a group of African killerbees in minutes. One sting leaves a chemical marker in the skin which attracts the rest of the bees to that person so they all attack at once. And simply calling the Shiyakusho to come and take care of the hive? Good luck with that. We had two bumbling idiots all sucking teeth about how to get rid of it, and screwed it up. It is essential that you do NOT smoke it as the bees will immediately start flying about targeting the nearest people. As Ebisen pointed out, none of the kids were harmed seriously - these likely werent susumebachi then. Here is an excellent write up: http://animal.memozee.com/view.php?tid=3&did=25751

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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