Tag Archives: Zombees

Return of the Attack of the Zombees

by funklord

zombee

As I reported a year and a half ago, the bee brain eating parasite is now spreading across the U.S.  This is the same fly that injects its eggs into the honey bee, then the eggs hatch, and the bee, being eaten from within, starts to act like a zombie.  At least that is what these reports are saying.  I mean, are they acting like a Haitian Vodou zombie?  Are they acting like George Romero zombies (which are really ghouls)?  Are they eating honey bee brains (which judging by the name should be sweet) instead of just honey?
I think they should be called Al-bee-ins since it is more akin to the facehugger of the famous extraterrestial franchise.

On a serious note, how much crap is nature going to through at the VERY necessary Honeybee?  I mean they have been in decline since 2004, and they are required for our basic survival.  Without pollinators, the food system will collapse, and that is not hyperbole.  If that happens, it is us that will have to then turn to eating brains to survive.

Zombie Apocalypse Day 122: Attack of the Zombees

by funklord

Ok, the title is a little misleading I will admit first and foremost.  This is NOT a story about little insects that have died, and were reanimated in some way (radiation, evil demonic spell, toxic waste, you’ve seen the movies) who have a sudden urge to eat brains.  If that WAS the case, I see two scenarios taking place.

1.  If the bees flew into your ears and slowly ate your brains from within (really bad for us)
OR
2.  They go after other bees, and eat THEIR brains (or whatever passes for brains in the insect world).

*Before I get a crazy amount of E-mails defending the intelligence of the Honey Bee, I want to say that I love Bees.  I eat honey almost every day.  I appreciate their talents with pollen.  I take pollen and I sneeze, but they turn it into sticky golden deliciousness.  I also recognize that as far as insects go, bees have to be(e) the SMARTEST of the insect world.  They have one (1) stinger to defend themselves.  One.  They don’t have the semi-automatic stinger of the Wasp.  They get one shot at it, then they die so they have to REALLY think things over.  If you start swatting at one, they have to think about all the angles.  “Will he hit me, and if so, will I survive it?  Will he just walk away or is this shit going to get serious?  Am I ready to die for this today?”  Some pretty heavy stuff.

So back to this amazing article.  So apparently there is a fly that is preying on bees.  This monster jumps on the bees back, and injects its eggs into their stomachs, and the larva eat the bee from within and burst out when they are big enough, ALIEN style!  Crazy right!  They are called “Zombie Bees” because while this is going on, the bees (which sleep at night) are up at all hours, flying erratically, and just dropping dead.  The fuss is that this fly, native to North America, has never attacked bees before, and this may be contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder.  If you don’t know what that is, or don’t think it is serious, look at some of the recent work of Linda Moulton-Howe.