# TF solution for internal parasites?



## diymom (Apr 8, 2016)

Ok, less than a week into having bees I have found dozens of dead bees on the ground...I picked them up with tweezers to have a closer look and I am really disturbed. I've got some major problem with the bees. 
I have found abdominal cavities hollow and chewed open, I have seen it on the heads too...something is parasitizing these bees. I found a few drones still alive with hollow abdomens...really freaky. I have also found some deformed wings on the drone bees which are dead and about 12-15 feet away from the hive and some weird tongues that have about 8-10 twisted parts. I will need to figure out pictures on here.
I don't know what I've got going on...I also found a hollowed out white bee pupa outside the hive about two feet away. These littered bodies were not present two days ago. I thought the hollow abdominal cavities were from ants, but when I found drones still alive with hollow abdomens with no ant activity...I ruled that out.

Any ideas and do I just do nothing, or is there any way to alter this problem in accordance with TF methods. Does this mean my hive will die?


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## Slow Drone (Apr 19, 2014)

Without pictures it's hard to say but sounds like what a shrew does. Use a mouse guard.


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## whiskers (Aug 28, 2011)

Perhaps this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocephalus_borealis
Bill


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## diymom (Apr 8, 2016)

I think this is it. I have confined the dead bees, some of which are not hollow yet within petri dishes and am going back tonight tonight to grab more crawlers I saw and do the same. I will be looking for fly pupas daily. I went outside with my butterfly net and caught a bunch of wasp looking things I've never seen in my backyard before which were by the hive. Keep in mind I'm pretty familiar with what flies in my yard...I know what other lepidoptera parasitic wasps look like and these things look similar. Could be the fly in question. 
In this case, it seems like it could enter the hive whenever, lay hundreds of eggs in hundreds of bees and wipe out a hive in no time due to its life cycle and proximity.
I don't think there is any control for this problem TF or not.
I think my hive is screwed and I might not be able to keep bees this year or next, maybe ever with this issue. Why isn't there more interest in this????
This is going to spread to all the commercial pollinators' bees and become a widespread problem. 
The rate at which these bees are dying doesn't bode well.
Also, that picture on Wikipedia isn't the same as the fly pictured on the zombie watch site.
https://www.zombeewatch.org/
They say that it shouldn't be an issue within the hive, but if I have these things buzzing around my hive, and have pups being dumped by the hive, it think it's a big issue.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

Whatever is wrong with your bees may have been brought to your site _with the bees._ And it may just be expressing itself now. This is one of the inherent risks involved in the transfer/re-homing of non-commercial nucs. 


I would contact your state bee inspector (I'm pretty confident you have such people in CA) and request an immediate visit and/or your state's chief entomologist's office. I agree with you, it is potentially a big problem, not only for your hive, but also for bees in the area where your nuc came from and the Big-Ag business sector that is bees in your state.

I am very sorry that this problem has appeared with your new hive. I hope it will turn out OK in the end.

I get shrews here in the winter which will sort of hollow out bees. This is during a time when there would be no free-flyng _phoridae_ due to the below-freeing temps, so I'm sure it's shrews.

Good luck to you and your bees!

Enj.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

I think you're concerned over nothing


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Are you sure it's not just paper wasps or mud dobbers?


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## diymom (Apr 8, 2016)

You could be right. I am new and indie just get bees.
Deformed dead and hollow bees in these quantities doesn't sound normal though.

The wasps or flys I caught were parasitic, they are really tiny, like 1/8". I am sending them to a fly guy in my entomology club for identification.
I have paper wasps everywhere, I know what those are. They eat all my garden pests and build their little nests everywhere.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Maybe shrews?


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

diymom said:


> ...I have paper wasps everywhere, I know what those are. They eat all my garden pests and build their little nests everywhere.


The wasps will eat the bees too, especially the abdomens. Yes, it could be the zombie flies, but I've never seen them in my area so far, so can not comment. DWV is more of a problem from varroa, but you already know that. Give them 2-3 weeks and see how the brood looks.


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