Honeybees Face Towering Threat From Cell Phones

Honeybees Face Towering Threat From Cell Phones


Studies have brought out evidence to support the theory of colony collapse disorder (CCD) among honeybees due to bioactive microwave radiation from cell phones and their relay towers.

Recent experiments have found that worker bees fail to return to their hives when their navigation skills are interfered by the mobile microwaves. Cell phones were placed near beehives. These hives collapsed totally in 5 to 10 days, with the worker bees failing to return to their homes.

The radiation also causes damage to the nervous system of the bee and it becomes unable to fly.

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 phenomenon of CCD and resultant crop loss were first noticed in the U.S. several years ago, but it had spread to most European countries by 2007.

Sources:

The Pioneer September 18, 2009

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The threat of losing entire honeybee colonies is far more serious than just a farmer losing his livelihood or you having to go without honey for a while.

Honeybees are critical components of agriculture, used to pollinate many of the nuts, fruits and vegetables that feed the world.

A full one-third of the U.S. food supply depends on pollination from bees. Apple orchards, for instance, require one colony of bees per acre to be adequately pollinated. The California almond crop alone requires 1.3 million colonies of bees, and bees actually add an estimated $15 billion in value to crops like these.

So if bee colonies continue to be wiped out in unprecedented numbers, major food shortages could result, adding to the current food crisis.

In an average year, beekeepers expect to incur losses of between 5 and 10 percent. But in 2007, U.S. beekeepers surveyed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service reported a total loss of about 36 percent of their bee colonies, up from 13.5 percent the year before.

When nature’s pollinators start to mysteriously die off, it is a major clue that something is out of balance. This mysterious malady has been dubbed “colony collapse disorder” (CCD), and while a definitive cause has yet to be determined it seems cell phones may be playing a role.

How Cell Phone Towers Could be Killing Bees

Early findings pointed to a virus, a fungus or a pesticide as the most likely suspects in CCD, however it’s hard to ignore the research from at least two studies that point to cell phones as a major threat.

When cellular phones were placed near hives, the radiation generated by them (900-1,800 MHz) was enough to prevent bees from returning to them, according to a study conducted at Landau University.

Scientists believe the radiation produced by cellular phones may be enough to interfere with the way bees "communicate" with their hives. Cellular phones may create a resonance effect that interferes with the movement patterns bees use as a kind of language.

Most recently, experiments by Sainuddeen Pattazhy, a researcher and dean in the department of zoology at SN College, Punalur, Kerala, also found that microwaves from mobile phones appear to interfere with worker bees’ navigation skills.

When Pattazhy placed mobile phones near beehives, the hives collapsed completely in five to 10 days. The worker bees failed to return home and vanished, never to be found. Adding to the mystery, parasites, wildlife and other bees, which would normally raid the abandoned hives, would not go near the collapsed colonies. Pattazhy said:

“The navigation skill of the worker bees is dependent on the earth’s magnetic properties. The electro-magnetic waves emitted by the mobile phones and relay towers interfere with the earth’s magnetism, resulting in the loss of the navigation capacity of the bee. Then it fails to come back. Also, the radiation causes damage to the nervous system of the bee and it becomes unable to fly.”

A Combination of Deadly Factors?

Cell phones appear to be a likely threat to bees around the globe, but there may be a cumulative effect going on that is making it more and more difficult for bees to survive, let alone thrive.

For instance, tens of billions of bees are transported across the United States to pollinate oranges, almonds and other food crops. Though the pollination is a normal part of nature, transporting bees thousands of miles in the backs of trucks to a new location is not. Some experts believe this process is stressing bees, quite literally, to death.

Other possible causes of colony collapse disorder have also been pinpointed:

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Pesticides
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Genetically modified crops
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Micro-organisms that compromise the immune system
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High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), frequently used for feeding by certain bee farmers

Most researchers are pointing to a combination of the above factors. For instance, Penn State scientists analyzed pollen, beeswax, adult bees and larvae and found dozens of chemicals, including pesticides, present. These chemicals, especially when combined with these other stresses, are more than capable of overwhelming the delicate system of the honeybee.

What Does This Mean for YOU?

Just as you are bombarded with toxic chemicals from the air you breathe, to the soil your food is grown in, to the toiletries you use and the water you drink, bees are the true canaries in the coal mine, showing us what’s in store for you and me if we don’t clean up our act on several fronts.

And this includes the use of cell phones.

Wireless technology is already being linked to the death of migratory birds and numerous well-researched studies show that brain damage from cell phone radiation may be a fast-approaching new epidemic.

If the disappearance of honeybees, and its corresponding threat to the world’s food supply is not enough to make you think twice about holding a mobile phone to your head, perhaps this will:

Last year, a well-circulated Swedish study found that people using cell phones doubled their risk of developing brain cancer and acoustic neuroma (a tumor that damages your hearing nerve).

The study also showed that people who started using cell phones before the age of 20 were more than five times as likely to develop brain cancer.

So maybe it’s time to realize that the honeybees losing their way is not an isolated event. It’s a sign that the very fragile ecosystem we all depend on to survive is not quite balanced. Something is off kilter and it’s time to determine what it is … and then restore that balance as quickly as possible.

And in the meantime, I suggest you take the problems facing the honeybees as a major warning sign, and learn what you can do to protect yourself now.



Related Links:

Cell Phones May be Why Honeybees Are Disappearing

Loss of Bees Threatens Ice Cream

Stung by Losses, U.S. Beekeepers Try to Rebuild