Mysterious ‘zombie bee’ scourge reaches southern U.S.

The mysterious “zombie bee” parasite that kills honeybees has reached the southern United States after scientists confirmed a case in Virginia about an hour outside Roanoke, researchers announced this week.  The discovery suggests the phenomenon is more widespread than previously thought, although researchers still know little about how many bees it actually kills.  Flies attach themselves to the bees and inject their eggs, causing erratic “zombie-like” behavior in the bees such as flying at night and toward light. The bees often die within hours. Fly larvae burst out of their carcasses days later.