'Zombie' Fly Hijacks Bees' Bodies And May Explain Die-Off Excerpts: FRESNO, Calif. (AP) Northern California scientists say they have found a possible explanation for a honey bee die-off that has decimated hives around the world: A parasitic fly that hijacks the bees' bodies and causes them to abandon hives. Scientists say the fly deposits its eggs into the bee's abdomen, causing the infected bee to exhibit zombie-like behavior by walking around in circles with no apparent sense of direction. The bee leaves the hive at night and dies shortly thereafter. The symptoms mirror colony collapse disorder, in which all the adult honey bees in a colony suddenly disappear. The disease is of great concern, because bees pollinate about a third of the United States' food supply. Its presence is especially alarming in California, the nation's top producer of fruits and vegetables, where bees play an essential role in the $2 billion almond industry and other crops. The latest study, published Tuesday in the science journal PLoS ONE, points to the parasitic fly as the new threat to honey bees. It's another step in ongoing research to find the cause of the disease. Researchers haven't been able to pin down an exact cause of colony collapse or find a way to prevent it. Research so far points to a combination of factors including pesticide contamination, a lack of blooms - and hence nutrition - and mites, fungi, viruses and parasites. Interaction among the parasite and multiple pathogens could be one possible factor in colony collapse, according to the latest study by researchers at San Francisco State University. It says the phorid fly, or apocephalus borealis, was found in bees from three-quarters of the 31 hives surveyed in the San Francisco Bay area. The combination of a parasite, pathogens and other stressors could cause die-off, lead investigator John Hafernik said. The parasitic fly serves as a reservoir that harbors pathogens - honey bees from parasite-infected hives tested positive for deformed wing virus and other pathogens, the study found. Hafernik stumbled onto the parasitic fly by accident. Three years ago, the biology professor looked for something to feed a praying mantis. He found some bees outside his classroom, placed them in a vial and forgot about them. When he looked at the vial a week later, he found dead bees surrounded by small fly pupae. A parasitic fly was feeding on the bees and had killed them, he said. The fly might have recently expanded its host presence from bumble bees to honey bees, Hafernik said, making it an emerging threat to agricultural pollinators. The fact that honey bees live in large colonies placed in close proximity to one another and beekeepers frequently move the hives throughout the country could lead to an explosion of the fly population, he said. The fly, which is found all over North America, could also become a threat to native bees. Hafernik plans to expand his research to other parts of the country and to study the parasite's impact on agriculture in California's Central Valley. Since it was recognized in 2006, colony collapse has destroyed colonies at a rate of about 30 percent per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Before that, losses were about 15 percent per year from a variety of pests and diseases. read full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-01-04/zombie-bee-dieoff/52381196/1?csp=obinsite ......... This is an ongoing phenomenon that has scientists worried because bees as they are an integral part of our food web. The incidents of hive disarray are growing in the country and should be a source of great concern to humans and our environment. To date there has been no certain known cause of hive collapse, or remedy for them which are happening in more places yearly. It is a continuing mystery that is also crucial to humans lives in our ongoing search for food sources.
Zombie bees!... 'Zombie Bees' Turn Up in Washington State Sep 25, 2012 - Parasite makes them fly at night before dying
Corn, wheat and soybeans don't rely on honeybees. And honeybees aren't a native species, so none of the native plants need them. It's more the specialty crops, like almonds or strawberries. Nobody will starve, but things will cost more. There doesn't seem to be a single factor, but a storm of different bad things all hitting the bees. 1. The fly 2. A fungus or virus 3. A parasitic mite 4. Whole-plant pesticides that get into the pollen. 5. Poor nutrition (lack of flowers, corn syrup as a substitute) 6. Stress (getting hauled around in a truck all day.) 7. All the honeybees being the same genetic monoculture (One thing which is _not_ a cause is cell phone radiation.) My big yard is doing pretty good. Plenty of honeybees on the fruit trees, and a good fruit crop. Which the raccoons ate most of, but that's another issue. I use pesticides sparingly, never on anything flowering. And I grow a big lawn full of clover and violets for the bees to feast on all summer long.
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Honeybees declining in Cambodia too... Decline of Cambodia's Honeybees Raises Concerns February 15, 2016 - Honeybees have a huge role in the ecosystems of tropical climates, but illegal logging and unsustainable honey harvesting are hurting their population. Honeybees have co-evolved with flowering plants, and their overall health is an indicator of an ecosystem's well-being.
Interesting articles on this parasite infecting bees. It sounds like this could explain what's going on here. Only a matter of time until some warmer cult member shows up and claims the Zombie fly is spreading due to global warming though. Tick tock.
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Number of observed colonies have plummeted by about 87 percent... Rusty Patched Bumblebee Declared Endangered January 10, 2017 The rusty patched bumblebee has become the first bee species in the continental U.S. to be declared endangered after suffering a dramatic population decline over the past 20 years, federal officials said Tuesday.
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There are more honeybee colonies in the country today than in nearly 25 years. Honey production also shows no pattern of decline. Last year, U.S. beekeepers churned out 161 million pounds of honey.
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