OLYMPIA, Wash. – No news is good news when it comes to so-called murder hornets.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture had zero confirmed sightings of the northern giant hornets in 2022.

While that is good news for state entomologists, we are not out of the woods just yet.

KOMO reports that it takes three consecutive years without a hornet sighting for the species to be considered eradicated.

Four northern giant hornet nests have been found in Whatcom County since 2019.

BLAINE, Wash. – It has been all quiet on the invasive hornet front this year.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture says there have not been any confirmed sightings of invasive Northern giant hornets in 2022.

KIRO reports that not one hornet has been found in 960 traps set by the department or 373 set up by volunteers in Whatcom County and northwest Washington.

Four nests of the invasive hornets were found and eradicated from northern Whatcom County in previous years.

The hornets, formerly known as Asian giant hornets, can stay active into November, so it is possible some may still appear.