Could cell phones be the culprit in honeybee disappearance?

Buzz Light Year

Apiarists in the U.S. and Europe have been scratching their heads for months over rapidly waning honeybee populations. Now some scientists who have combed through the data are all abuzz with a new theory: cell phones. In bad news to mobile-attached ears, British researchers are suggesting that phone radiation could be disrupting bees' navigation systems. Research has shown that bees act differently around power lines, and a recent study found that up to 70 percent of the little stingers failed to return to hives that contained cordless-phone docking units. The implications, of course, go beyond bee welfare; Albert Einstein -- if not a bee expert, a relatively smart guy -- once said that in the absence of the busy crop pollinators, humans "would have only four years of life left." Ooh, that stings. Other theories for the bees' departure have included mites, pesticides, global warming, and genetically modified crops, but so far, none has been definitively proved.

straight to the source: The Independent, Geoffrey Lean and Harriet Shawcross, 15 Apr 2007

straight to the source: The Telegraph, Bonnie Malkin, 16 Apr 2007

see also, in Grist: CSI: My Apiary

discuss in Gristmill: Can you hear me now?

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Comments: (5 comments)

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Cell Phones

I wonder how long it will take them to fix or stop the Cell phone use? Before or after we die? LOL I don't own one. Until they no longer cause brain cancer I choose not to own one.

by LisaBee at 5:09 PM on 18 Apr 2007

Buzzz

Here's more on bees, from today's NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/science/24bees.html?th& ...

Also, a friend sent me this regarding Einstein's comment:
http://www.snopes.com/quotes/einstein/bees.asp

by fielderfinds at 10:20 AM on 24 Apr 2007

Pollination ecology - we forgot to care

Honeybees have been seriously dying off since 1947. Something like 5.6 million hives in the US has turned to 2.3 million or less.
Europe has had similar problems. Varroa and tracheal mites, various fungal and viral diseases, and the unprven factors scientists are energetically turning their scopes to these days are all implicated, and they even show some indication of depressed immune response.

However, I would like to mention some lesser-known facts.

Honeybees (apis mellifera) are an introduced generalized pollinator which in combination with severe habitat loss and fragmentation, have starved out many other pollinators, especially a number of specific ones with important mutualistic relationships to plants in North America.
The habitat fragmentation I speak of does not have to be on the scale of the massive development occurring with urban sprawl in the far west and south. It merely has to be of a few acres. You are also aware of the still-widespread use of pesticides (whether applied or essentially shot into the chromosomes) and clearing of non-crop plants by big agribiz, especially since the 70s.
While I am not one to dispute Al Einstein, the only reason he is near right (and it would remain to be seen, as the disappearance of honeybees might just allow the indigenous pollinators to recover, even at this late stage) is due to this worldwide proliferation of one species, and to the determination of Americans to act as if the outdoor world is to be cleansed and vacuumed of its chaotic-seeming natural life, as if it were a kitchen or operating room. This attitude has been the most unfortunate import all over the earth.

For a wider view of the importance of pollination, and an introduction to pollination ecology, please read:
The Forgotten Pollinators; Steven L. Buchmann, Gary Paul Nabhan; Island Press; Washington D.C.; 1996.
Although published 11 years ago, it is more than ever timely, and you won't be able to put this book down.

by briseboy at 10:49 AM on 24 Apr 2007

Einstein's comment re: bees

Everyone seems to be repeating this quotation attributed to Einstein, but when you check it, there's doubt that he actually said this about bees.

Bee that as it may (remember, this IS Grist!)the disappearance of these critically important insects is serious, no matter what Einstein did or did not say. Let's hope it gets solved soon.....

by xottawan at 4:21 PM on 24 Apr 2007

Washed up bees along CA coast

I work for a small marine conservation organization based in Santa Cruz, CA called Save Our Shores. Today at work, I got a call from a woman who saw hundreds and hundreds of bees washed up along the coast in Santa Cruz, most of them still alive. She also saw lady bugs, most of them alive as well, though not as many. Although the cause of their disorientation is still unknown, maybe they are all starting to collect in the same area. If anyone has information about this or would like to talk about it please contact our organization. Thanks.

by mhohensee at 2:33 PM on 01 May 2007

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