The enormous hornets of China are making a mess of things more so that they have ever done before in the past. According to a Guardian report, dozens of people in recent weeks in China have died of alleged hornet attacks. (Side note: how does one allege a hornet attack? Either a hornet attacked or it didn’t, I would think.) We understand that over 100 individuals in the Angkang city area of Shaanxi province were attacked by these deadly flying insects and no one knows why.

Hornet attacks are nothing new in China; in fact, several people die by hornet attacks each year. However, this time around attacks are more frequent, which push the death toll to its highest point yet. Health officials claim around 18 persons have died so far, but local newspapers believe 21 have died in hospitals.

Some folks believe the hornets are all over the place due to changes in the weather. From what we know of hornets, the queen hibernates in the cold season and lay her eggs after. If there is a swarm of hornets living together during the cold season, they will all refuse to hunt and starve to death. Chinese winter begins in December and ends in March, so this is the perfect time for the hornets to go on a rampage. However, nothing explains why these insects are attacking more humans than usual.

Anyway, as deadly as the Asian Giant hornets are, they are no match for the Japanese giant hornets. These bad boys are bigger and are capable of destroying a beehive of 30,000 with just 30 soldiers. That’s something to think about right there before you take a trip to the Japanese outback.

[via The Guardian]