Zombie fly plague put forward as explanation for bee deaths crisis

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is marked by the sudden disappearance of worker bees from a colony.

It was first recognised as a serious problem by US beekeepers in 2006, but has also affected bee colonies across western Europe. In some cases, bee losses have reached levels of 90 percent.

Viral and fungal infections and toxic chemicals in pesticides have all been suggested as possible explanations. But a new theory, published yesterday in the online journal Public Library of Science One, involves the parasitic fly Apocephalus borealis, which is already known to attack bumble bees.

The insect lays its eggs in the abdomens of the bees, which start displaying “zombie” behaviour, abandoning their hives en masse to congregate near lights. Finally they die, and the fly larvae emerge from their bodies.

Evidence has now emerged of the fly targeting honey bees, according to the report from San Francisco State University.

Professor John Hafernik said: “We don’t know the best way to stop parasitisation because one of the big things we’re missing is where the flies are parasitising the bees.

“We assume it’s while the bees are out foraging because we don’t see the flies hanging around the bee hives.

“But it’s still a bit of a black hole in terms of where it’s actually happening.

“Honey bees are among the best-studied insects in the world. So at one level, we would expect that if this has been a long-term parasite of honey bees, we would have noticed.”

Yorkshire bee-keeper Ken Pickles who wrote the book, Buckets Of Honey from Boxes Of Bees, said yesterday that he still thought the decline in bee populations was due to too many people keeping bees.

The former policeman keeps bees near his home at Addingham, near Ilkley, said: “I am a simple country bee-keeper and I cannot comment on these findings.

“I do not know what kind of fly they are talking about. I can only offer the same opinion I always do, which is that the problems of bees are down to too many human beings and too many bee-keepers.”

Like many bee-keepers, Mr Pickles thinks Colony Collapse Disorder is one term for a number of different problems, which sometimes coincide.

Many also think that the boom in bee-keeping as a hobby has meant too many bees competing for food and a lot of bee losses caused by inexperience.

The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs has been funding courses to try to improve standards.

For details, see the British Beekeepers Association website at www.bbka.org.uk/