10-12 IAN Zombees in WA

 'Zombie bees' have now been found and reported in Washington

 The poor beleaguered honeybee, victims of what is called colony collapse disorder and nobody knows the reason why honey bee colonies are disappearing at alarming rates. We have reported on this for years. Recently Ramesh Sagili, a honeybee specialist with the OSU Extension Service, found a honeybee under strange circumstances. “I stumbled upon a belly-up bee on a sidewalk under a street light on campus in Corvallis one morning in late July.” It turns out the bee had indeed been infected by a zombie fly and now the same thing appears to be happening in the state of Washington. Novice beekeeper Mark Hohn in Kent found that his bees are infected with a parasite that causes them to fly at night and lurch around erratically until they die.

The Seattle Times reports  it's the first time the infected bees have been found in the state, according to tracking by San Francisco State University biologist John Hafernik through his website ZombeeWatch.org. The fly is native to most of North America  and attacks honeybees by laying eggs inside their body.