What This Site Is About
ZOMBIE BEE UPDATE
The parasitic phorid fly was reported about a year ago–I presented about it at the national conventions. It appeared to be more of a novelty than a concern, and no one paid much attention. The the authors finally published a formal paper, and the press extrapolated it wildly into being the cause of CCD.
Now, all of us are being deluged by people wanting to know about the fly.
The fly is a native parasite that normally parasitizes bumblebees and paper wasps. The authors write:
“It is possible that A. borealis expanded its host range to include the non-native honey bee many years ago and has gone unnoticed because infected bees abandon their hive and flies occurred undetected in low densities. We believe it is more likely that the phenomenon we report represents a recent host shift and an emerging problem for honey bees.”
If this is indeed a host shift, that would be bad news. But it could simply be that we’ve just never noticed it. I’ve spoken with the large commercial beekeeper in whose operation the fly was discovered, and he hasn’t even noticed it.
In the Bay Area hives that the researchers studied, it only appeared to be a significant problem in Sept/Oct, and even then only at very low levels–only a few percent of the foragers were infected.
Local beekeepers can test for the parasite’s presence by putting an overhead light near hives at night and collecting any bees that are drawn to it. Put the bees into a jar with ventilation (coffee filter rubberbanded over the top) and allow them to die naturally (I’m using that term very loosely in this case).
Keep the jar at room temperature for a week, and check to see if fruitfly-sized flies emerge. Please let me know if you find any!
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Beekeeping is always changing! New parasites, collapsing colonies, and the shift of the industry from honey to pollination income are forcing us to rethink every aspect of colony husbandry. The forward-looking beekeeper needs good, hard facts to plan his management strategy.
Most beekeepers don’t have the time to read the scientific research and analyze the data for practical application, or to sort through the pages of chat, opinion, speculation, and conjecture found in the bee magazines and on the Web.
On this site I hope to provide the progressive beekeeper with readable summaries of current worldwide scientific research on various topics. I will also offer practical suggestions based upon my own experience (I run a 1000-colony migratory operation in California), and that of other successful and innovative beekeepers.
If you are a hobby beekeeper, and just want the “quick answer” of how to manage varroa without synthetic chemicals, then I suggest that you go to “Varroa Management,” and read the following articles: Strategy, Biotechnical II, and Oxalic Acid Questions.
