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Could Cellphones be Killing off the Bees?; Ominous
Topic Started: Apr 14 2007, 08:33 PM (253 Views)
kenny
HOLY CARP!!!
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.
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Axtremus
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HOLY CARP!!!
Let's call BeeLady on her cell phone and ask for her opinion. :D

With all the side effects that might come from cell phone radiation, perhaps tin foil hats and may be even tin foil jockstrap cup lining aren't bad ideas. :D
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Horace
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HOLY CARP!!!
I was a late adopter and am still a very infrequent user (I don't regularly have my cell phone with me). Maybe I'll be inheriting the earth soon along with the aborigines of new guinea.
As a good person, I implore you to do as I, a good person, do. Be good. Do NOT be bad. If you see bad, end bad. End it in yourself, and end it in others. By any means necessary, the good must conquer the bad. Good people know this. Do you know this? Are you good?
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Riley
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HOLY CARP!!!
Axtremus
Apr 15 2007, 01:10 AM
Let's call BeeLady on her cell phone and ask for her opinion. :D

:lol2:
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pianojerome
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HOLY CARP!!!
"Colony Collapse Disorder"??

:spit:

Sorry. :biggrin:
Sam
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Nobody's Sock
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Fulla-Carp
Bees are dying by the millions

By Dennis Pollock
Fresno Bee (this is the name of the paper, don't laugh! )
FRESNO, Calif. — In this high-tech age of tractors steered by Global Positioning System, some things in agriculture still come down to what Bryan Beekman held in his hand.
Bees.
The insects are needed desperately for production of almonds and many other crops. A simple act of nature — pollination by these critters — is the key to a third of the world's food production.
But disaster lurks in bee country. The insects are dying — or disappearing — in droves. Many of Beekman's pollinators, for example, are dead. And nobody knows what happened to half of the 100 million bees owned by David Bradshaw of Fresno. They simply vanished.
With stakes that go far beyond production of California's nearly $3 billion almond crop, researchers are scrambling to find out why bee colonies across the nation are being devastated by a syndrome they call "colony collapse disorder." Theories focus on viruses, fungus and nutrition.
Beekman believes he knows what killed his. He said a Fresno laboratory has found high levels of a pesticide, diazinon, in the bees' remains. The Fresno County Department of Agriculture is conducting its own investigation and has not yet confirmed the diazinon finding.
Bees can be poisoned, and they are susceptible to mites and many other menaces that have plagued beekeepers through the years. And that is taking a toll on morale.
"The last five years, I've lost the fun of doing it," said Beekman, a third-generation beekeeper. "But I don't know what else I would do for a living. Once a beekeeper, always a beekeeper."
It can be a nomadic life of flatbeds and forklifts and chasing the bloom. The payoff, in Beekman's words: "Being your own boss, being outside with Mother Nature. It's the curiosity of seeing them thrive, making them happy."
If they thrive, they perform the highly important — but simple and inadvertent — act of pollination. As they gather nectar, flitting from blossom to blossom, they transfer pollen grains from the male structure of plants to the female structure of plants. This sparks growth of the nut.
But because so many bees are far from thriving now in at least 22 states, concern is mounting.
Looking for answers, about 35 people, most of them beekeepers, gathered at the McDonald's restaurant in Kerman last week for a meeting with Eric Mussen, a bee expert at the University of California at Davis.
Mussen brought no silver bullet. He talked of the need for nutrition, challenges of dry weather and fewer wildflowers, the fact that there's no substitute for pollen and hazards posed by pesticides. He advised when to use the chemicals to combat pests and listened to where they think things have gone right or wrong.
Mussen said bees have disappeared mysteriously before — from 1963-65 and again in 1975.
He also said it's no mystery that some bees fly from the hives and don't return. Those nearing death typically do that.
Beekeepers have seen their return for pollination services rise as almond acreage has risen. Five years ago, it cost about $45 to rent a hive. Today, the going price is about $140.
"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
There was a die-off in the late 80's as well, if I recall correctly. The honeybee population took a dive.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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kenny
HOLY CARP!!!
So if 70% of bees are gone why don't I see 70% less food at the store, or price increases of 70%?
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
pianojerome
Apr 15 2007, 07:30 AM
"Colony Collapse Disorder"??

:spit:

Sorry. :biggrin:

They've got a drug for that....Hive-agra.

Perks 'em right up....
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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1hp
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Fulla-Carp

First off - if I had to give up my cell phone I wouldn't have a problem!

The curious statement in the article was that they imply that the die off started in the US first and spread to Europe. Cell phone useage is higher in Europe than the US, and has also been more prevalent for longer than in the US. Also, the population density of Europe is higher than that of the US - so all in all, I would expect the bee problem to be worse in Europe than in the US???

Quote:
 

So if 70% of bees are gone why don't I see 70% less food at the store, or price increases of 70%?


I believe that bees are being physically transported around the country to perform their tasks (cross pollenate or whatever it is they do well). Thought I just read that huge amounts were moved to the NorthWest this spring.

There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those that understand binary and................
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