No,
it's not about Washington, DC (one can only dream), a new movie or TV
show. Seems it's Washington state and it's seriously bad news
for beekeepers.
“The
infection is as grim as it sounds: 'Zombie bees' have a parasite that
causes them to fly at night and lurch around erratically until they
die.”
The
bad news isn't just for beekeepers. Fewer bees doing their
pollinating thing mean more crops failing. The list of crops is a lot longer than I would have guessed.
A
small fly is the source of the problem. A female lands on the back of
a bee and injects eggs into the bee, where they hatch. (Remember the
movie, “Alien?)
”San
Francisco State University biologist John Hafernik first discovered
zombie bees in California in 2008.
