Scientists have discovered why American honey bees are turning into zombies

28 Comments on "Scientists have discovered why American honey bees are turning into zombies"

dave thompson on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 11:38 am 



This is pure propaganda.
Based on the idea that Monsanto and all the rest of the petro chemical industry has nothing to do with destroying the base of the food chain. Yea, that’s it the natural world is destroying the bee population and the entire base of the food chain.Not lab produced chemicals released into the environment willy nilly, by corporate for profit interests.

Davy on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 11:50 am 



I have two hives and my wife is in the local bee club. No word on this around here in Missouri.

Apneaman on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 12:19 pm 



dave, why can’t it be both? Most who follow along know that the chemical cocktail and saturation has killed bees, other beneficial insects and birds too. Don’t forget that although nature is your momma, she wants to fucking kill you and the rest of her kids too – she crazy. She has thrown down on the planet 15 times before with major extinction events (5 mass). Parasites are nothing new and in fact they are an everyday occurrence. They happen all the time. And then there are the humans, the biggest parasites of all, stripping off momma’s skin, burrowing into her belly and sucking out all her innards with no concern that they are killing billions of her other children and by extension themselves. Humans are her rouge dopamine addicted cancer child. Buckle up – momma’s about to lay some serious Chemotherapy on our ass.

HARM on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 12:21 pm 



DT clearly sees the real motive, and thanks to Davy for the corroborating ground-zero report.

More of the petrochemical industry’s “Fog of War” campaign designed to confuse, obfuscate and deflect criticism away from their role in destroying even more biodiversity and undermining the long-term viability of the planet to feed itself.

Ghung on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 12:43 pm 



“ZomBee Watch is a citizen science project sponsored by the San Francisco State University Department of Biology, the San Francisco State University Center for Computing for Life Sciences and the Natural History Museum of LA County. ZomBee Watch was initiated as a follow-up to the discovery that the Zombie Fly Apocephalus borealis is parasitizing honey bees in California and possibly other areas of North America. You can read or download a copy of our original scientific paper, A New Threat to Honey Bees, the Parasitic Phorid Fly Apocephalus borealis, for free from PLoS One.”

https://www.zombeewatch.org/theproject#about_ZomBee_watch_

Davy, if you go to the site and navigate to the map, you’ll see that they haven’t been found in your neck of the woods yet. Just sayin’. There are a number of parasites being used to control agricultural invasive pests. I don’t see this as being far-fetched or some conspiracy to divert attention from the chemical companies, but if you guys could provide some evidence of that, I’d be glad to consider it.

Maybe you guys think Monsanto introduced the Chines Stink Bug or the Spotted Wing Drosophila so I would use more of their chemicals.

Davy on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 12:50 pm 



I am not for or against this article just around here we don’t have this problem yet. We have plenty of other problems so it is scary to here there might be more on the way. We have some hardcore bee people around here. They are fanatics and nice to know there are still good fanatics left in our world. Anyway I will forward this report to them and see what they say.

dave thompson on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 1:22 pm 



OK I have no corroborative evidence and yes it is based on my own normality bias. I do however understand that we are in the midst of the 6th mass extinction event. Losing up to 200 species per day. I am told/read about. We are witnessing the loss of zooplankton/phytoplankton on a massive scale up to 40% in the past 40 years. We are changing the chemistry of all aspects of our biosphere land, air and water included. For many years now the alarm bells have been ringing and the industrial media complex comes up with this kind of explanation that very well could have a grain of truth. However, the powers that be never readily admit wrong doing and are well known to use deceptive practices to lead the general populace astray.

Shortend on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 2:18 pm 



http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/MISC/BEES/Apocephalus_borealis.htm

. A number of phorid flies primarily parasitize ants and some have been introduced into the United States for biological control of the red imported fire ant.

Apocephalus borealis Brues (the zombie fly) is a member of a specialized subgenus known as Mesophora. This subgenus parasitizes insects other than ants. Their typical hosts include bumble bees and paper wasps but they are capable of parasitizing many other arthropods. Apocephalus borealis recently has been confirmed to parasitize European honey bees, Apis mellifera sspp. along the West Coast of the United States as well as in South Dakota and Vermont.
The rate of Apocephalus borealis parasitism is being determined in honey bees. However, this parasitoid could cause an economic loss in the regional honey bee industry. It has been estimated in San Francisco that 77% of the honey bee hives contain workers that have been infected by this parasitoid. The potential economic impact the zombie fly may have on the honey bee industry is worth consideration. This should not overshadow the effects the zombie fly has on other hosts. More information is needed on the effect of Apocephalus borealis on native pollinator populations.

Had honeybee hives in Florida in the 1980’s and only problem was with wax moth.
While in Charlotte NC, a few co workers attempted to start hives but experienced die off after a few seasons.
Never mind the other problems on has to deal with now a days.
Pass on starting a hive…looks like we are staring at some lean times ahead

Ghung on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 4:11 pm 



The bumble bees are my primary pollinators in our big green house, especially for my curcubits and beans, and they have been plentiful. It would be a huge problem if we had a die-off. A neighbor has over 200 honey bee hives in the surrounding area and he re-queens them every year, and also re-bees about of a third of his hives every year in order to stay ahead of these problems. It’s expensive, but he still makes a good profit, especially from his Sourwood crop. We have several large stands of Sourwood on our place and he keeps about 40 hives just over the ridge from us. I was just out on the deck, and they are still busy with the late wildflowers around our place.

Hoping for the best……

makati1 on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 7:12 pm 



We all want to blame Monsanto, because it truly is evil, but Mother Nature plays some mean tricks also. That a new (or spreading) parasite is attacking bees is very possible. Especially if humans had a hand in their introduction. In time, it will spread, aided by human transport systems. A female fly comes in on the next flight from LA to Atlanta or some other East Coast city and lays her eggs. Next cycle, the spread begins in the east. Monsanto will sell you something to try to prevent it, but they may have been behind the original introduction in Cali.

It is a twi$sted, deadly world we live in. Seems the U$ is doomed to be a ‘zombie’ country. The human population is already far along that path. lol.

Anonymous on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 1:52 am 



The groups that produce diversionary material like this above, in order to divert blame away from industry, is an industry unto itself. How some of you are buying the corporate line here is amazing considering history.

Did you all buy these other lines of manufactured bullshit too?

-There is no link between smoking and cancer

-There are oil eating microbes cleaning up the GoM.

-Oil leaks are natural occurrence(and far worse than exxons or chevrons.)

-Better living through chemistry

-Atoms for peace

-Fraking does not pollute groundwater

-amerika is the exceptional nation

-Roundup is safe enough to drink.

If your dumb enough to believe some ‘naturally’ occurring parasite is killing bees off, a species that has existed for at least 100 million years, then I have bridge for sale Id like to talk to you about.

Bet you swallowed all the above hook-line and sinker too eh ghung?

makati1 on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 5:47 am 



Anon, it can happen because a species has been introduced where it has never been before. It has happened a lot of times in the past, in a lot of locations. Which is why I said what I said about it being deliberately caused by … (pick your poison).

Col. Steve on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 7:35 am 



The MAIN reason why parasites infect their Hosts is that the Host’s Immune system is weak & compromised.
We must begin inoculating the Pollinators in the Natural “Full spectrum Life Force” that Nature understands & accepts.
Until all of these so-called Professors & researchers get back to the basics we will continually see a rapid decline in all pollinators.
The products & technologies to enhance All ecosystems have been invented, however, the world of academia dispute any & all Logical & Economical SOLUTIONS.
I am a consultant & offer my services to Solving this & other Environment & Agriculture problems. email me; Col. Steve Hargis at; shargis60@yahoo.com

makati1 on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 7:37 am 



“This way to the Egress folks!” LOL

Airwick on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 7:51 am 



I believe this video is an exaggeration overall on the part of blaming these parasitic flies. First off, a less than 2 min video does NOT tell the whole story. So with that said, my assumptions would have to side with the folks saying the main problem is human caused. Sure, these flies could be taking a toll but how about as to why? Maybe it’s mainly due to a bunch of these bees being poisoned to begin with (just like humans) from unnatural chemical compounds, pollution, radiation, climate changes, cell phone type wave activity bombarding, etc. essentially we are changing environments too fast for many types of living things to survive but some can survive such as parasitic flies and cockroaches

makati1 on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 8:00 am 



It would be easy to prove parasitic infestation by the obvious parasites found in the bees bodies. You know, like tape worms in humans or maybe Giardia, a microscopic parasite that causes the diarrheal illness known as giardiasis and will be one of the parasites that will become common in humans in the future. It is already a problem in many states.

JuanP on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 8:17 am 



Ithink that it helps to call things by their name. All honeybees are bees but not all bees are honeybees. I was talking with an entomologist about this a couple of weeks ago at the Miami-Dade County extension. She told me that there are thousands of bee species in the world but only a handful of them are honeybees. There are no native honeybees in the Americas; they were all introduced from Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Honeybees only pollinate a handful of important commercial crops, particularly almonds and apples. Most food crops don’t need honeybees for pollination. The Florida bee population, including honeybees, is the healthiest in the USA.

If all the honeybees in the Americas were to go extinct it wouldn’t really matter much. I would miss almonds, though, but it wouldn’t change my life much. I could just eat more cashews and pecans.

makati1 on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 10:25 am 



Perhaps you need to think about that statement, JuanP. Here are a few of the plants bees pollinate:

Apples, ,Plums, Peaches, Nectarines, Pears, Black and Red Currants, Okra, Strawberries, Onions, Cashews, Cactus, Prickly Pear, Apricots, Lima Beans, Kidney Beans, Green Beans, Cherries, Celery, Walnut, Macadamia Nuts, Lemons, Limes, Quince, Carrots, Persimmons, Cucumber, Hazelnut, Cantaloupe, Chestnut, Watermelon, Tangerines, Beets, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, Turnips, Chili peppers, red peppers, bell peppers, green peppers, Eggplant, Raspberries, Elderberries, Blackberries, Black Eyed Peas, Vanilla, Cranberries, Tomatoes, Grapes, not to mention a number of spices, grains and oil plants. All found in North America.

http://honeylove.org/list-of-food/

Next week we may read that the pest has infiltrated ALL of the bee species. Separating honey bees out as not important to our food chain seems to be a denial of reality. How many of the food plants are in YOUR garden? How would you manage without those foods?

Apneaman on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 10:29 am 



Col. Steve, how did life on this planet manage to survive for over 3 billion years before human “products & technologies” and “consultants” showed up?

jani on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 11:44 am 



This is not new information. There are several articles published since 2011. Here is an except from one.

…..We don’t fully understand the web of interactions,” said Hafernik. “The parasite could be another stressor, enough to push the bee over tipping point. Or it could play a primary role in causing the disease.” Hafernik and Core’s study was published in early January 2011 in the open access science journal PLoS ONE.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034982_honeybees_zombies_colony_collapse.html#ixzz4Os220aDE

Apneaman on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 11:54 am 



Excellent summary.

Some Fun Facts for a Dystopic Future

“In other words, there are many other environmental crises too numerous to list that are coming to a head, and catastrophic sea level rise is just the icing on the burned cake. The last time Earth had such a disruptive species, cyanobacteria altered the atmosphere and killed off all the anaerobic life forms including itself. Ironically, oxygen was the byproduct of the cyanobacteria that proved lethal to those ancient lifeforms and paved the way for the rise of photosynthetic organisms. The cyanobacteria had a 500 million year run, but modern man has only been around for 0.01% of that time. Our large brain has made it possible for us to destroy ourselves in record time.”

https://collapseofindustrialcivilization.com/2016/11/02/some-fun-facts-for-a-dystopic-future/

onlooker on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 1:30 pm 



Talk about keeping things in perspective nice link AP. So at least mankind can boast that we rival an impact event as a catalyst for a mass extinction event

Apneaman on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 11:58 pm 



Drifting into Arctic Un-Winter

“The Arctic Ocean has lost a great deal of its ice coverage during summer over recent years. Darker oceans reflect less of the sun’s rays. And more heat gets transferred to the water’s surface. As summer transitions into fall, this added energy loading creates a latent heat barrier to ice refreeze. Without its traditional ice coverage, the ocean then ventilates this heat into the Arctic environment — keeping air temperatures abnormally warm, increasing water vapor content, and thickening the Arctic atmosphere.”

-Current Arctic Heat is Unprecedented

-Sea Ice Record Lows Are Likewise Extreme

“All that naked ocean dumping heat into the atmosphere is having a marked effect. One that is producing these extreme temperatures even as it generates a self-sustaining cycle that prevents refreeze.”

https://robertscribbler.com/2016/11/02/drifting-into-arctic-un-winter/

Apneaman on Thu, 3rd Nov 2016 11:38 am 



Suffocating the Ocean

Oxygen-depleted oceans have preceded many mass extinctions in Earth’s past, including the worst one of all 252 million years ago. Are hypoxic dead zones from California to Namibia a harbinger of the next extinction?

“The eruptions, known as the Siberian Traps, might have been survivable. But as the molten rock pushed out of the Earth, scientists think it ignited beds of coal laid down during a previous epoch, releasing huge quantities of carbon dioxide over a relatively short period of time — maybe tens of thousands of years. The warming atmosphere heated the oceans from the top down, turning vast portions of them stagnant and hypoxic.”

“What probably took a few thousand years of volcanoes during the end-Permian will have taken modern civilization, with its tailpipes and smokestacks, a few hundred years.”

“On the other hand, Kump notes, we’re releasing carbon into the atmosphere 10 times faster than the rate of release during the End Permian.
The speed of global warming is important — maybe even as important as the absolute amount of energy added to the climate system.”

https://psmag.com/suffocating-the-ocean-1c4fa66ca0f4#.aeuv90ls8

Apneaman on Thu, 3rd Nov 2016 11:41 am 



Climate science: Bad news gets worse

http://phys.org/news/2016-11-climate-science-bad-news-worse.html

.5mt on Thu, 3rd Nov 2016 2:27 pm 



Earthworms and Honey Bees. Guess which one was native to the new world?

Whoops, you got me.
Neither.

Apneaman on Thu, 3rd Nov 2016 6:12 pm 



Think pollution is just an on-Earth problem? Anthropocene junk is in space too

“Since the Soviet and American space programmes began blasting off in the 1950s, humans have made major strides into the unknown – and left behind vast amounts of junk. This visualisation was created by the UK aerospace engineer Stuart Grey and depicts the 40,000 or so objects that we’ve left in space since Sputnik’s launch in 1957, including more than 17,000 objects still in Earth’s orbit, which pose a considerable danger not just to our satellites but to any spacecraft with humans aboard.”

https://aeon.co/videos/think-pollution-is-just-an-on-earth-problem-anthropocene-junk-is-in-space-too

If there are aliens that have visited the earth, they would be so technologically advanced that we would not see them if they did not want to be seen. They’re probably watching us now. Assuming we will destroy ourselves, but leaving a scout to observe us on the off chance we will survive long enough to develop interstellar travel at which point they would destroy us lest we infect and consume the galaxy. Interstellar Cancer.

onlooker on Thu, 3rd Nov 2016 6:34 pm 



Yep like the movie Avatar. In that movie we messed up our planet so went and found the planet in Avatar composed of noble savages. Well we attacked them with manic furor. So we could take over their planet. Universe need not worry we are doing a great job of offing ourselves