More on bee die-off

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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 theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees'

navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding

their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now

evidence to back this up.

 

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.

 

CCD has since spread to Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and

Greece. And last week John Chapple, one of London's biggest bee-keepers,

announced that 23 of his 40 hives have been abruptly abandoned.

 

Other apiarists have recorded losses in Scotland, Wales and north-west

England, but the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

insisted: " There is absolutely no evidence of CCD in the UK. "

 

The implications of the spread are alarming. Most of the world's crops

depend on pollination by bees. Albert Einstein once said that if the bees

disappeared, " man would have only four years of life left " .

 

No one knows why it is happening. Theories involving mites, pesticides,

global warming and GM crops have been proposed, but all have drawbacks.

 

German research has long shown that bees' behaviour changes near power

lines.

 

Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to

return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Dr Jochen Kuhn,

who carried it out, said this could provide a " hint " to a possible cause.

 

Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US government and mobile

phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, said: " I am

convinced the possibility is real. "

 

The case against handsets

 

Evidence of dangers to people from mobile phones is increasing. But proof is

still lacking, largely because many of the biggest perils, such as cancer,

take decades to show up.

 

Most research on cancer has so far proved inconclusive. But an official

Finnish study found that people who used the phones for more than 10 years

were 40 per cent more likely to get a brain tumour on the same side as they

held the handset.

 

Equally alarming, blue-chip Swedish research revealed that radiation from

mobile phones killed off brain cells, suggesting that today's teenagers

could go senile in the prime of their lives.

 

Studies in India and the US have raised the possibility that men who use

mobile phones heavily have reduced sperm counts. And, more prosaically,

doctors have identified the condition of " text thumb " , a form of RSI from

constant texting.

 

Professor Sir William Stewart, who has headed two official inquiries, warned

that children under eight should not use mobiles and made a series of safety

recommendations, largely ignored by ministers.

 

Here’s the link:

 

HYPERLINK

" http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2449968.ece " http:

//news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2449968.ece

 

 

 

Dave

 

 

 

" Don't be afraid to try new things. After all, the Ark was built by

amateurs, and the Titanic was built by professionals "

-Unknown

 

 

 

 

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