Mermithergate

Okay kiddo, so have you ever heard about worms? They are these slimy creatures that crawl around in the dirt. Well, some types of worms called mermithid nematodes can actually infect insects.

Now let me tell you about mermithergate. It's a big word that means something very sad that happened to some bees. You see, there are these little worm-like creatures called mermithid nematodes. These worms like to live inside the bodies of bees and they can make the bees very sick.

Normally bees are very good at keeping their hives clean and healthy, but sometimes they get infected with these nematodes. When that happens, the bees can get really weak and sick, and they start to act very weird. They might fly around in circles or just lay on the ground not moving.

When these sick bees come back to the hive, the other bees can tell that something is wrong and they won't let them back inside. That means the sick bees are left outside the hive to die.

This is what we call mermithergate. It's a sad story about how these tiny nematode worms can cause big problems for bees. But don't worry, scientists are working hard to find ways to protect bees from these worms and keep them healthy so they can keep pollinating all the beautiful flowers around us.