For the first time ever the Seattle Times reports that Mark Hohn of Kent, Washington came home to discover something terrible: zombie bees had infested his home.
First discovered in the San Francisco area, “zombie bees” are actually the result of a small parasitic fly injecting their eggs into the carapaces of the of the bees, causing them to fly erratically in an uncontrollable way (much like a zombie) as the fly’s larvae grow within the bee.
Originally natives of North America, the parasitic flies have typically only have affected things such as bumble bees and wasps in the past. Now, though, they appear to be going after the non-native European honey bees as well — something that is helping to contribute to the already dwindling population of the bees across the country and pose a risk to countless agricultural crops.
So far contained only to the West Coast, researchers are looking to track the spread of the parasites to see if other regions may be at risk.
The good news? The “zombie” condition seems to be limited only to bees, so aside from the risk posed to our crops people are safe. The only thing to be on the look out for human-wise is anyone getting into bath salts, particularly in the Miami area.