Are Cell Phones Wiping Out Our Bees?!

ARE CELL PHONES WIPING OUT OUR BEES?

This headline is from the UKs The Independent headline concerning the disappearance of bees lately. Numerous threads here on ATS about the mystery of the bee population decline.

CAN THIS BE PART OF THE CAUSE, OR THE MAIN CAUSE FOR THE DECLINE?

FLAG THIS THREAD HERE....

Strange reductions of the bee population, quote from article...

Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?

Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious 'colony collapse' of bees

By Geoffrey Lean and Harriet Shawcross
Published: 15 April 2007

It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail.

They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world - the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon - which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe - was beginning to hit Britain as well.

The Independent SOURCE

And this part is particularly alarming...!

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) occurs when a hive's inhabitants suddenly disappear, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature workers, like so many apian Mary Celestes. The vanished bees are never found, but thought to die singly far from home. The parasites, wildlife and other bees that normally raid the honey and pollen left behind when a colony dies, refuse to go anywhere near the abandoned hives.

The alarm was first sounded last autumn, but has now hit half of all American states. The West Coast is thought to have lost 60 per cent of its commercial bee population, with 70 per cent missing on the East Coast.

[edit on 15-4-2007 by greatlakes]

I remember hearing on Coast to Coast there were two countrys in europe who banned a certain pesticide a few years ago and they have discovered in those two countrys the bees have been unaffected. Supposedly the U.S is now investigating if there is any relation between the two.

Great post I find these news very scary, people take for granted what these little insects do for us.

I have a theory. Humans have a CO2 tolerance level. If we take in too much CO2 our blood basically gets poisoned and we die. Bees will certainly have a tolerance level as well. Who is to say that the current global CO2 levels don't exceed that tolerance level? Perhaps they become disoriented and fly off and eventually die.

I think this makes a great deal of sense.

We have a limited knowlege of how the world looks and feels to these creatures, and that the use electro-magnetics.

Image what the UK would look like if you were a small bee?

80% mobile phone coverage, digtial tv broadcasts, bluetooth, wifi, satelltite uploads and downloads, Private Mobile Radio, Tetra, Taxi, Bus, Train, Aircraft, all spewing electro-magnetic polution into the enviroment.

The UK radio spectrum is so crowded, the goverment are struggling to manage the demand for services.

If this is the case, then will the truth ever be heard? do you see people stopping using their nokias to save a few bees? Of course not, our daily lives are far too important for that.

If i had to put any money on one system that was causing more damage than others it would be tetra. tetrawatch

This study was only done on cellphones, perhaps more needs to be looked at as well? Think of all of the stray electromagnetic waves traveling around , waves that were of course not present till recently of with the last few decades.

None of the theories mentioned seem to match up with the data of the abandoned hives basically being shunned by all other scavengers and bees. That makes me think it is something organic in the honey and pollen, perhaps a pesticide or some chemical.
Definitely weird and becoming near world wide.

When are we going to start seeing the effects in the grocery store?

And what can we do on a personal level to help make this right?

Originally posted by leafer
I remember hearing on Coast to Coast there were two countrys in europe who banned a certain pesticide a few years ago and they have discovered in those two countrys the bees have been unaffected. Supposedly the U.S is now investigating if there is any relation between the two.

Perhaps.

I work at an organic farm and am apprenticed to a local master beekeeper. We have had zero problems so far. As far as I know, no chemicals at all have been applied in the operation at any point.

I'll ask him what he thinks of all this.

Whatever it is killing the bees, we are going to be in some serious trouble when they are all gone...

I wonder why I have heard nothing on this on any radio stations or from the tv... the only thing i heard about it was a quick little info blurb on the radio, did not explain how bees are a very important aspect of the ecosystem, this will go on silent until its too late..

Maybe its the whole "pole flip" thing the earths magnetic field's messing up causing the bees the lose their way home.. Oh nvm, bees navigate by signals and pheromones right?
I dont know then but I bet the price of honey is going up lol.
Itll blow over, remember the huge bird "die off" we had last year?
hundreds of birds dropped right out of the sky in Austin Tx, other places as well.
I find it weird though, I live 3.5 hours South of Austin and I noticed no unusual bird deaths.

btw, I hate bees. im sure theres a name for it, some kind of phobia but when i was a child i could just look at a wasp nest and get stung.

[edit on 15-4-2007 by Kr0n0s]

Albert Einstein said that if the bees disappear, mankind will only have 4 years to live...

Einstein:

If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.

He could be wrong though...

What's interesting is when will this bee disappearance be shown to the masses, mainstream news, television broadcast etc? It has been in some respected online news stories, but anyone seen any news broadcast on the idiot box?

My concern is that most of americans are not as active on the internet and rely on TV for their information, current events, is they watch the news at all...

As far as the importance of this, yes it is only a tiny creature the bee, but linked to many other important jobs and functions that we have come to rely on.

Hey if Einstein quoted as such there must be something to it. Wondering why would he have said this and in what context? Is therea source for the quote?

I have only heard one reference to this, which was about 20 seconds long and was just stating that bees were dying, didn't make it sound like an issue whatsoever. I hope that this gets sensationalized, because this is big.

I have a theory in relation to this. How do bees communicate? If they communicate with certain frequencies, certainly it could be possible that cell phones, cell towers, and other devices are interfering with their ability to communicate properly, confusing them. This would have the effect of making them do odd things such as evacuate/etc. Who can say? However: This bee problem is surely happening in very out of the way places as well, where there are no cell phones and electronic devices. Data needs to be gathered from around the world. We also have to inquire as to the possibility of pollutants and poisons in the plants and earth itself due to humans. Once bees bring in pollen/etc to the hive, the entire hive gets infected.

I dont mean to sound like a know-it-all but as i said in a post ^above^ I believe bees communicate using pheromones and signals.
When a bee finds something of interest for the hive, it goes back to the hive and signals the other bees by some kind of dancing.
They are also known to use the pheromones to communicate several different things within the hive.
As we know though scientists, dont know everything and neither do i lol
But maybe the guy above has a point, if they rely mainly on pheromones and they get some kind of pollution on them from insecticides, that could possibly interfere with the pheromones..


Bees

[edit on 16-4-2007 by Kr0n0s]

communication

note the way in which the honeybees in the video communicate with others of the hive. Certainly vibration./Frequency.

Interestingly examine the motor inside a cellphone when it vibrates:
cell phone vibration

[edit on 16-4-2007 by WhiteWash]

LMAO, damn youtube has everything, even a video of bee communication
but I have never heard any scientist refer to it as frequency, just dancing.
thats what Im going by.

[edit on 16-4-2007 by Kr0n0s]

Originally posted by pavil
None of the theories mentioned seem to match up with the data of the abandoned hives basically being shunned by all other scavengers and bees. That makes me think it is something organic in the honey and pollen, perhaps a pesticide or some chemical.

Choice observation. Crucial. It really blows the mind that this would "begin" in the US, and then "spread" to far away lands.

The fact that this is all the sudden an instant issue is a cause for concern. Then the fact that cellphone/etc radiation is minimal in rural areas, combined with the claim that parasties and predators avoid problem nests really shakes things up, while dismissing the Co2 argument (which was great until considering these factors). From there the only way I can see pesticides as the cause is if they were new, as this is rather spontaneus from what I know (perhaps there is mor edata pertinent to this angle?).

Originally posted by WhiteWash
How do bees communicate?

Pheromones (odor) are their comms, like ants.
en.wikipedia.org...

EDIT: Interesting bee video

But that doesnt conclusively prove that bees communicate primarily from "frequency" means. Notice how the propagandist bee shakes its butt and they all try to get right up in it, which the intent in spreadng of pheromones could be explained by the "dance". The limitations in the experiment presented dont show whether or not the follower bees actually follow the propagator bee (after picking up its scent), or whether or not its "vibrations" have any role once its gets to back to the target (to help summon them). In the air its doubtful that the propagator bee would be able to offer a widely different 'frequency" that is surely the result of its wing flapping rythms. The true hinge here would be any data on what sort of distances bees can pick up on (each others) scents.

As bees are closely related to ants (which communicate completely thru pheromones), and considering the other factors I've pointed out in this post, it seems to me that the cell phones theory is improbable.


[edit on 16-4-2007 by IgnoranceIsntBlisss]

Anyone have any idea how many bees we are talking about when the the article states that 60% loss on the west coast and 70% loss on the east coast?

Cell signals are as we all know, across the entire US, stronger sources in the cities and metro areas...