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I was recently told of a phenomenon happening in California of flies that are infecting Honey Bees with their eggs, and then these bees are becoming “zombies” of sorts, until the larvae hatch and the bee dies. I find this very interesting, and I am looking for articles on this subject that are appropriate for students at the fifth grade level to read. I would appreciate any resources on this subject. Thanks!

Hi Rachel,

What about these links.....
Fly parasite turns Honeybees into Zombies from Discovery News

Zombie Honeybees Spread on the West Coast from LiveScience

Are Zombie Bees Infiltrating Your Neighborhood? from Scientific American Blogs

Some of the vocabulary is a bit difficult for fifth graders so I suggest re-writing it a bit so that the language is more appropriate. For example, instead of using the word decimate, try using the word destroy. Instead of using the word infiltrate, use the phrase take over. If you want to build their vocabulary skills, then just define them in the reading. For example...fly parasites are decimating (destroying) honeybees.

Whatever you decide to do, you can have your students popcorn read either the Live Science article or the Discovery News article (or both). Then they could watch the videos linked in the Scientific American blog. Then you could discuss all of the resources. Fifth graders are pretty savvy. I think they would really enjoy it.

Some other articles that might be useful: “Zombie” Fly Parasite Killing Honeybees:http://news.yahoo.com/zombie-fly-parasite-killing-honeybees-230200867.html A couple of Youtube videos my students enjoyed were: Zombie Bees’ Population Growing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-U5RAnWaow Zombie Bees in Washington State http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwNHMiCAUXU When I have multiple articles, I use the jigsaw method of sharing. Each group has a different article to read and take notes on. After sharing what they think the highlights from the article are with each other, they go to different groups with different articles and everyone shares what they learn. The They then return to their original groups and share what they learned. It’s a really effective method for reading a variety of levels of material and including everyone in the process.

Hi Rachel, Sandy and Ruth! Sandy and Ruth, thank you for sharing your strategies for reading articles together in class. Those are both such great techniques to use. Rachel, I did an advance search in the Learning Center library and 19 resources came up about bees that may be worth a look. I just put in the term bees for key word.This one in particular caught my eye: Idea Bank: Electronic BeeSpace It is an online curriculum about bees - very interesting. There is also a book chapter with a cute game called Pollination Party Relay Race
Let us know if any of the resources were helpful!
Carolyn

Thanks for posting! My brain is whirring with possible projects based on "zombie bees" - reading all I can on this. :)

This is an excellent opportunity for extra credit!!! Thank you! We did just discuss the hive collapse situation, so it will fit right in

Thank you for sharing this! One of the candidate teachers brought this up in my education program. I thought it was really interesting. I just did a science workshop on pollination and I should have incorporated "zombie bees".