Anyone wanting to familiarize themselves with Apocephalus borealis, the native Phorid fly that normally preys on native bumble bees and paper wasps, should go to "ZombeeWatch.org" for a comprehensive overview and visual map of the A. borealis parasitism thus far.
We are in the early discovery phase. It spiked this Fall worse than ever before and in years before they were knocked out by cold.
If anyone suspects that they have parasitized bees, collect them in a jar, smartphone photograph where they were found (Geo-tagged), cover the jar opening with a paper towel and rubber band, put them in a warm-ish location to incubate the larvae within the bees. Within a week or so, the larvae will hatch out and spin pupae cocoons, then in another week or so, the Phorid flies will hatch out. You can log each of those steps into the database provided, and you all can become Citizen Scientists - even if you are real scientists.
They have been discovered all up and down the West Coast including Oregon and Washington State, and we had our first confirmed report of parasitism from Vermont this last fall.
Thanks for the interest,
ZombeeWatch.org
On Dec 31, 2013, at 6:40 AM, Aaron Morris wrote:
> Cross posted from another list:
>
> I have one hive and was excited last weekend to see a few buzzing with the
> warm spell. However I also noticed small flies of varying size at the
> entrance. Most looked like fruit flies, one or two looked like small house
> flies. I've scared myself with the internet and hope they aren't scuttle
> fly...apocephalus borealis. I saw a few flies during the fall, but assumed
> the hive front was a warm place to land. I didn't think they'd taken up
> residence.
>
> Based on the very few articles I could find linked to honeybees, it looks
> like a recent transition from infestation of bumble bees (which my field
> has tons of) to European honeybees. Pictures I could find on bees look very
> much like the size and color of what I saw. I also saw a few bees crawling
> away from the hive on that warm day. That could be the normal end of their
> life though.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!
>
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