Heee's Baaack...
Brad Reid: Trade Secrets May Be Lost
Are Cell Phones Killing off Bees?
New research shows a possible link between cell-phone radiation and a loss in honey production among bees -- a side effect that could ultimately threaten our crops.
Posted 6/ 30 10 at 6:15 PM | Business Trends, Technology, International Business, Consumer Products & Services, Telecommunications
Text Size:
A A AFor years, bee populations have been declining, and a recent study questions whether cell-phone radiation may be to blame.
Last year, bee populations dropped 17 percent in England, according to the British Bee Association, and almost 30 percent in America, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Since the 1980s, the varroa mite has been considered a prime suspect as the killer of billions of bees around the world. It's a parasitic mite, sucking the blood of the bee, and it can also reportedly spread a virus that causes a bee's wing to become deformed. Much time and energy has gone into fighting the varroa mite -- New Zealand, for instance, plans to soon release bees that are genetically resistant to varroa mites.
And while this news doesn't really get the varroa mite off the hook -- or the hive beetle, another pest that threatens our pollinating friends -- the study, conducted by researchers at Panjab University in India, suggests that cell-phone radiation may also be hurting the bee cause.
Researchers fitted cell phones to a hive and powered up the phones for two 15-minute periods each day. Three months later, the honey stopped. The Queen Bee also had trouble with her egg production, and the size of the hive diminished.
There may be reason to sound the alarm. Bees pollinate 90 percent of commercial crops, worth $12 billion in the United States, according to CNN. But almost every country has a thriving beekeeping industry. A lot of money -- not to mention food -- stands to be lost if bees someday die off.
This study could affect how other bee-related studies a perceived. The BBC recently reported on the journal Conservation Genetics, which just released a report about honeybees living in Kufra, Libya -- an oasis in the middle of the Sahara desert. The bees are doing fine because they're isolated from the varroa mite. But they probably do not receive much cell-phone radiation, either.
The report comes on the heels of a recent San Francisco decision to make cell-phone retailers post how much radiation mobile phones are releasing.
The industry's reputation when it comes to potential radiation has come under question over the past few years. In fact, as the theory gains traction, other scientists are taking a closer look. As CNN reported, Andrew Goldsworthy, a biologist from London's Imperial College, has studied the biological effects of electromagnetic fields, and thinks that changing phone frequencies might help cell phones and bees peacefully co-exist. Goldsworthy thinks that the problem with the radiation might be due to the pigment in bees called cryptochrome. They use that to sense the direction of the Earth's magnetic field, which helps them navigate their way back to the hive. If the frequency is changed, that might allow them to use their cryptochrome as nature intended.
Geoff Williams is a frequent contributor to AOL Small Business. He is also the co-author of the book Living Well with Bad Credit.
Last year, bee populations dropped 17 percent in England, according to the British Bee Association, and almost 30 percent in America, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Since the 1980s, the varroa mite has been considered a prime suspect as the killer of billions of bees around the world. It's a parasitic mite, sucking the blood of the bee, and it can also reportedly spread a virus that causes a bee's wing to become deformed. Much time and energy has gone into fighting the varroa mite -- New Zealand, for instance, plans to soon release bees that are genetically resistant to varroa mites.
And while this news doesn't really get the varroa mite off the hook -- or the hive beetle, another pest that threatens our pollinating friends -- the study, conducted by researchers at Panjab University in India, suggests that cell-phone radiation may also be hurting the bee cause.
Researchers fitted cell phones to a hive and powered up the phones for two 15-minute periods each day. Three months later, the honey stopped. The Queen Bee also had trouble with her egg production, and the size of the hive diminished.
There may be reason to sound the alarm. Bees pollinate 90 percent of commercial crops, worth $12 billion in the United States, according to CNN. But almost every country has a thriving beekeeping industry. A lot of money -- not to mention food -- stands to be lost if bees someday die off.
This study could affect how other bee-related studies a perceived. The BBC recently reported on the journal Conservation Genetics, which just released a report about honeybees living in Kufra, Libya -- an oasis in the middle of the Sahara desert. The bees are doing fine because they're isolated from the varroa mite. But they probably do not receive much cell-phone radiation, either.
The report comes on the heels of a recent San Francisco decision to make cell-phone retailers post how much radiation mobile phones are releasing.
The industry's reputation when it comes to potential radiation has come under question over the past few years. In fact, as the theory gains traction, other scientists are taking a closer look. As CNN reported, Andrew Goldsworthy, a biologist from London's Imperial College, has studied the biological effects of electromagnetic fields, and thinks that changing phone frequencies might help cell phones and bees peacefully co-exist. Goldsworthy thinks that the problem with the radiation might be due to the pigment in bees called cryptochrome. They use that to sense the direction of the Earth's magnetic field, which helps them navigate their way back to the hive. If the frequency is changed, that might allow them to use their cryptochrome as nature intended.
Geoff Williams is a frequent contributor to AOL Small Business. He is also the co-author of the book Living Well with Bad Credit.
Getty Images
- JPMORGAN FIASCO: Why $2 Billion Is Just the Start - CNNMoney
- GET THAT JOB: Top 5 Interview Spending Splurges You Should Make - FOXBusiness
- WOMEN & WALL STREET: Most Powerful Women in the U.S. - InvestorPlace
- How to Thwart the Financial Advisors Mismanaging Your Money - The Motley Fool
- HOLLYWOOD CASH: Glitzy Obama-Clooney Fundraiser Breaks Records - IBTimes
- JOBLESSNESS MADE WORSE: 200,000 About to Lose Unemployment Benefits - CBS MoneyWatch
- LOOKING UP: Consumer Sentiment Rises as Gasoline Prices Fall - 24/7 Wall St.
Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Yeah..sure CNN is such a great source...come on people. AOL is really pushing the envelope with all this liberal stance and reporting. Very disturbing...
The bees are dying because they cannot find any real food. Genetic altered food is not real food and it will kill us as well!
nsaba1601
The most disturbing is that there are people living in the USA who
really believe every word out of the lying mouths of Limbaugh & Beck.
Why is it when one googles "limbaugh & beck lies" you get tens of
thousands of replies. When you google lies by CNN you get none.
Oh, but of course, only Fox News knows the truth.
Fox News would have made Hitler proud.
Last I knew bees get nectar from flowers. Haven't seen any artificial flowers growing anywhere.
But if cell phone radiation is killing them off, then perhaps there is a treatment for the Africanized bees. Maybe this radiation can be set to where it does its damage to these killer bees and maybe not the European ones.
Shhhhhhh! Monsanto might hear you!
I think you are close...
If I were a giant seed company, wanting to radically increase my sales of seeds, I just might genetically engineer those seeds so that the plant's pollen would disorient the bees. End result is rapid hive collapse.
Once the bees are gone, Mr Farmer would have no choice but to purchase seeds from me, every year, for ever and ever, for the amount I am asking.
Monsanto is killing the bees with their Round-up... only thing that survives Round-Up are their [Monsanto] genetically modified seeds, that produce GMO foods...It kills everything else. "He who owns the food, rules the world".... GROW YOUR OWN FOOD... BTW, Scott's and Monarch are not much better, they kill butterflies, bees and other good bugs too + they poison your pets and children when they roll around on your lawns. Something to think about... Hummmmm?.
You people are all idiots if you think Monsanto is killing any bees. I'm an ex-beekeeper (1200 hives commercially). When you start investigating what the commercial beekeepers are putting into their own hives to fight the Verroa mite, then you will start finding out what is disorienting the young bees. Would pregnant women take poinson to remove parasites from their system without hurting their baby? That is what the beekeepers are doing - they try to poison the mites without killing the bees. They're not very good at doing it, but let's all blame the deep pocket, Monsanto.
EASY SOLUTION. DON'T LET THEM USE YOUR PHONE
....Seriously, this story may actually have some truth to it, but the Lochness Monstor and Bigfoot may have some truth to iot as well. How about making references a little more important than other 3rd party references. Maybe you can come up with something a little more credible as a reference. Otherwise can I get a job as an AOL writer as well....
Any one--or all--of these theories that you try to trivialize are what's known as "Science". All of the factors cited could have a bearing on this problem. It will take more research--what's called 'Scientific Inquiry'--to narrow down the cause or causes and propose a solution.
Personally, I believe that (Yes, indeed!) George Bush and his crew, contemptuous as they are of scientific evidence, are very much to blame for the current state of environmental degradation and the horrific probability of further natural catastrophes. This kind of macho anti-intellectualism can, and will, bring the kinds of consequences that We (the human species) might not be able to survive.
Hey...I haave a toenail fungus. Damn that George Bush...that's his fault too...
Just pass a law preventing bees from using cell phones while flying. Really does anyone really belive this BS? Wait, it is geneticly altered food, wait it must be global warming er I mean climate change.Wait we all know it's George Bush's fault.
Does anyone else find it funny that on this page about bees dying from cell phones that there are 3 Verizon wireless ads lol... Probably a waste of money on those ads for the people who believe something else the "smart" people tell them
HEY!!! What the sam hill does being a dem or a rep have anything to do with the the disappearing Honey Bees??? Bet those bees wish all we humans were gone. I have only seen three butterflies, this summer, and NO honey bees. We have to PAY to see butterflies in, IOWA!!! That's right, PAY. You pay in, Ames, IA, and in Des Moines, IA. They search you when you leave the Butterfly exhibit. Sometimes they can cling to your clothes. Makes you wonder what is becoming of this world? We are not here forever. Better take care of things while you can. These times are no joke!
I have a hard time thinking cell phones are killing bee's.
and how in the hell is this about rush and Glen Beck which I thank God for or the liberal nut jobs would have been able to ruin the country with out people being the wiser.The liberal demo-rats can't fight Becks facts so they attack him..I really can't stand you Obama people you are either a nut job or a welfare food stamp hud loving bum
Great commentary, I havent read of that. However, I do believe that we Americans have little or no understanding of food production; and are unwilling to accept anything that is beyond the comic strips.
Cell Phone radiation exists and exists in astronomical quantities, I have reason to believe that additional controlled scientifc studies should be encouraged.
Beekeepers have been using prefab honeycombs (which are made from beeswax) for many years. Hive collapse is only a few years old. There is strong evidence it is a pathogen, or complex of pathogens. The various suspected pesticides (which certainly can kill bees) have been ruled out as the cause of this disorder. The "magic thinking" (by someone earlier, not by you) that somehow GMO crops are not "real food" and are therefore killing the bees is ludicrous. Corn rice and wheat (among the major GMOs) are, like all grasses, wind pollenated so bees do not make use of their honey. Soybeasn and alfalfa, modified to resist Roundup ARE bee pollenated, but the gene would have not be active in pollen or nectar.
What will kill us all is the descent into superstition and magical thinking as the American population becomes science illiterate!
Great commentary, I havent read of that. However, I do believe that we Americans have little or no understanding of food production; and are unwilling to accept anything that is beyond the comic strips.
It's nice to read that someone posting has a BRAIN. Thank you. I trap feral cats ( basically because most people are "afraid") and when I tell them something about the cats that after doing this for 6 years I have observed they still don't believe me. In this country its next to impossible to get people to believe you (even though you have experience & they have NONE) UNLESS they've done it themselves. BUT they believe hype from marketers. Marketers make EVERYTHING sound GREAT.
IF PROPER research was done probably none of us would use a cell phone. What in the name of God was wrong with calling people back & NOT being able to get in touch with someone instantly? Are we going to distruct in 30 seconds or less?
Honey bees are dying because in order to speed up honey production, bee keepers insert a man-made honeycomb into the hive. This introduces a foreign substance into the hive which is proving toxic to the honey bees. Duh. The bees make antibiotics and when they make their own honeycomb, it takes longer for honey. Greed is killing the bees. Also, ignorant homeowners who spray and dust to kill every weed and every insect are killing the bees. Studies show: honey bees who live in unaltered bee-made honeycomb aren't dying because they work harder and are healthier and don't have to fight off whatever toxic substances are introduced into their fake man-made honeycomb.