New study finds cell phones are killing honey bees

[D-Mack]

BURT -- A recent study has found that radiation from cell phones may be killing the honey bee population.
Scientists claim it’s contributing to something called Colony Collapse Disorder.


...


“If we keep losing bees, we are going to lose our food supply," said Briggs.

...

Biologists say the signal coming from cell phones and their towers can be modified so that it doesn't produce the frequency that disrupts a bee’s navigation.

http://www.connectmidmichigan.com/ne...aspx?id=478538

I wonder what frequencies they are talking about ? Cell phones have been around for a long time, is it UMTS?

[neoken]

Re: New study finds cell phones are killing honey bees

Find the source of the actual study. This "news article" does not link to any and just puts forth one persons point of view. Granted he is a beekeeper so his perspective is valid, but he ain't no scientist.

Always try to read the original study these stories are based on or it's just rumors and sensationising.

(I'm to lazy to do it myself right now)

[FrankL]

Re: New study finds cell phones are killing honey bees

Here's the paper. Note that they used 2 bee colonies exposed to 900MHz GSM radiation and 2 control colonies. I would like to see how statistically significant their results are with only 4 colonies in total...

[neoken]

Re: New study finds cell phones are killing honey bees

There's another thread with a similar small sample study done in Israel.

Ive been inclined to think it's pathogens and pollutants, there was a large decline in the 70's of the wild population long before cellphones were in use.

I think there's a bias towards nifty or cool or shocking explanations for things when in the end it's just caused by something "boring" like pollution.

So I'm skeptical, but these studies are useful, just need more better ones and larger ones. Perhaps there's something to it.

Thanks for finding it!

[we_are_toast]

Re: New study finds cell phones are killing honey bees

There's another thread with a similar small sample study done in Israel.

Ive been inclined to think it's pathogens and pollutants, there was a large decline in the 70's of the wild population long before cellphones were in use.

I think there's a bias towards nifty or cool or shocking explanations for things when in the end it's just caused by something "boring" like pollution.

So I'm skeptical, but these studies are useful, just need more better ones and larger ones. Perhaps there's something to it.

Thanks for finding it!

Fully agree. There's nothing in nature, that I'm aware of, that would provide a system of navigation for bees in the 900MHZ range, so it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. This frequency range is so far away from any natural background electromagnetic frequencies, it's just too odd. It would be pretty interesting if it were true, but I'll bet they find something more chemical or biologically related.

[Sidewinder]

Re: New study finds cell phones are killing honey bees

This is of particular interest to me. I've noticed over the past 4 years a profound loss not only in domesticated but feral bee populations in my area.

I tend to believe it is a number of factors working in a synergistic fashion to weaken the hives. At this point (also not scientific but anecdotal) I've seen a drop in bumblebee, wild black and domesticated bees to the point my garden has one to a few of any type of bee at a given moment - not dozens that would be there say 10 yrs ago. In the past my locust trees would literally buzz when flowering - now they have been silent. Troubling.

Links to imidacloprid, colony collapse disorder, just to provide a couple.

SW