'Zombie bees' now found in Washington

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http://www.todayonline.com/Focus/EDC120925-0000092/Zombie-bees-now-found-in-Washington

"Zombie bees" have a parasite that causes them to fly at night and lurch around erratically until they die. And experts say the condition has crept into Washington state in the United States.

Mr Mark Hohn, a novice beekeeper, returned from vacation a few weeks ago to find many of his bees either dead or flying in jerky patterns and then flopping on the floor.

He remembered hearing about zombie bees, so he collected several of the corpses and popped them into a plastic bag. About a week later, he had evidence that his bees were infected: The pupae of parasitic flies.

"I joke with my kids that the zombie apocalypse is starting at my house."

The zombie bees were the first to be confirmed in Washington state, The Seattle Times reported. San Francisco State University biologist John Hafernik first discovered zombie bees in California in 2008.

Hives have been failing in recent years due to a mysterious ailment called colony collapse disorder, in which all the adult honey bees in a colony suddenly die. A small adult female lands on the back of a honeybee and injects eggs into the bee's abdomen. The eggs hatch into maggots.

"They basically eat the insides out of the bee," Dr Hafernik said.

Dr Hafernik now uses a website to recruit citizen scientists like Mr Hohn to track the infection across the country. Observers also have found zombie bees in Oregon and South Dakota.