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The first confirmed case of "zombie bees" in Washington state has been found by a Kent beekeeper. Discovered in California in 2008, the bees are infected by a parasitic fly that causes the bees to lurch around erratically before dropping dead.
Mark Hohn didn't pay much attention to the dead bees scattered outside his shop when he got home from vacation a few weeks ago. He just pulled out a leaf blower and blasted away the mess.
It took him a few days to realize he had an invasion of the living dead on his hands.
Originally posted by tvtexan
Off topic:
Zombie Bees!
Almost sounds like the name of a punk rock band or something.
On topic:
I had not heard of this before. I recall a thread a few days back regarding the pesticides and what not causing the death of many colonies, the actions of these bees seem very similar.
One things for sure, we will be totally screwed if we can't get a handle on this.
Originally posted by Corruption Exposed
I believe the term "Zombie Bees" to be a little over the top but nonetheless this appears to be a serious parasite that certain honey bee populations are dealing with.
The parasite is called "Apocephalus borealis" and may be one of the major causes of Colony Collapse Disorder that has been in the news quite often over the last few years.
The fact that this parasite is spreading is not good news and I hope it's not an indication of future widespread infections as I was under the impression that this was now starting to get under control.
As Albert Einstein said: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left".
First off let's hope that bees don't disappear, but second, let's hope Einstein was wrong even though he was probably bang on with his prediction.
seattletimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)edit on 24-9-2012 by Corruption Exposed because: (no reason given)