SANTA BARBARA, Calif- There's a new enemy on the prowl for honey bees that will turn them into "zombees." They have been spotted across the U.S. and now are here on the central coast.
It really isn't a good thing for the honey bees which have already had enough problems with colony collapse and disease. The new enemy for honey bees are parasitic flies.
What they do is find a bee, attach to it, and shoot their eggs inside the bee. While the egg is inside the bee, it will hatch and consume the inside of it. Scientists said that's when the bee becomes distressed and begins acting quote, un-quote like a zombie, flying clumsily and at night eventually dying.
"It's bad for the bee keepers because for many of them that is their lively hood and there are a lot of crops that depend on honey bees for the pollination, almonds is an example of a major crop that depends on honey bees for pollination," said Brian Cabrera, a Entomologist.
The zombees have been spotted in Santa Barbara and bee keepers in San Luis Obispo County are on the look out.
