Can cell phones be behind the great bee die-off?

Given the reality that cell phone penetration is considerably higher in Europe, as well as population density, it seems reasonable to derive that if, indeed, the bees hate cellphones then the phenomenon would be greater in Europe than it is here.

If it really started here and is spreading to Europe, then something other than cellphones is indicated, I should think.

A mobile phone anywhere near my brother in law’s boat compass sends it 12 degrees out of whack. But bees don’t use magnetism to navigate, only polarised light. Also, their small size makes them hopeless antennas, even at microwave frequencies. I guess it’s a combination of things that are causing this catastrophe, something happening in Western Europe at the same time as in the USA, something like GM crops. Or 24 hour reality TV. Whatever, it’s a big deal and needs to be taken seriously.

I blame mobile phones for the Bee emigration – im telling you, it’s all the Buzz surrounding the iPhone.

5,

If you notice, I ask the same question you do.

I think it is probably global warming. I mean the world is hotter now than it used to be, and most of us humans spend our time inside anyway where its air conditioned. If there was a small like .0009 rise in temperature maybe it was just enough to kill the freakin bees. I mean, how do they cool down if they’re hot?? Just because us humans can handle it doesnt mean every species can.

The fact that it started somewhere and is spreading elsewhere would lead be to believe it is not cell phones.

7,
NOT really…
You must consider that Bee’s pollinate about 60+% of ALL crops…

Bee’s are colony insects, when they CANT go back to the hive, they DIE..
Only the Queen larve can leave.

There is another rumour.
The way we treat our plants… Herbicide, pesticide, forcing growth, and minerals ISNT a good way to add nutrician to our plants.

8,

I also believe that bees are dying due to a biological agent we have introduced, be it pesticide, herbicide, fertilizer, or GM manipulation. Factory farming and the accompanying mindset are among the largest factors behind the shabby way we’ve treated the environment lately. However, it doesn’t hurt to check the facts.

It is also very possible that the bees are intolerant of a wide variety of pressures, and if we can mitigate one or more of the irritants we could save the bees. Maybe bees could handle cell phones or pesticide-producing genes inserted into plants, but not both. I don’t know, so let’s look at the data. If we don’t have enough, we should go out and get some.

I think we need to shut down all cell phones just in case, or at least place a hefty 50% tax on all cell phones and bills, except possibly for those that make use of a newer technology that seems like it won’t hurt bees. We really can’t wait for all the science to work itself out, besides we know that cell phones can’t be doing anything good for the environment, so switching to a newer variety with a smaller footprint is commonsense. Throw in the links to brain cancer, and this is simply the defining issue of our lifetime.

Other “new” environmental factors that are mobile:

Cars with loud subwoofers bumping the latest Snoop…

Cars with spinners – maybe the spinners disorient the bees?

Cars (you know, the crappy little ones) with their catalytic converters removed so they sound more powerful (and pollute more)…

Perhaps the Flying Spaghetti Monster has given up on humanity.

Let’s see: oh yeah, it’s Bush and Cheney’s fault. Somehow, it must be their fault.

Perhaps it’s the music and movie pirates, they’re certainly bringing about the end of humanity.

Seriously, now — I’m betting it’s some new chemical pesticide or herbicide. Perhaps by-products of ethanol production or something?

Maybe it’s another screwed up good intentioned Government initiative. GM mosquitoes where recently engineered to eventually overtake the current GM mosquitoes population, after nine generations.

Maybe our Government did the same with bees, engineered to overtake the current killer bee population; but, as usual screwed up due to lack of intelligence.

Personally I think it’s an al qaeda operative dressed like Belushi in his bee costume wired rim glasses singing “I’m A King Bee”, luring the bees away like Pied Piper

There are about 100 million cell phones in Brazil and I haven’t seen or heard anything about bees dying here.

More likely related to monoagriculture and pesticides over the past 50 years or so – our general Gray Sludge Planet anti-terraforming corporate agriculture project. Here are a couple fairly balanced links:

Sacramento Bee, starts with almond crops (100% pollinated by bees) but ranges out: http://tinyurl.com/2t2kpu – concludes, in part, that we really don’t know yet if something significant IS happening.

And here, from two years ago (before the CCD alarms went out), National Geographic notes honey bee reductions and asks if wild bees can take over pollination tasks: http://tinyurl.com/2sa38p – it quotes a conservation expert: “Prior to the advent of large-scale monoculture agriculture [the practice of growing only one kind of plant in a given plot] in the fifties and the use of lots of chemical pesticides, native bees and feral honeybees pollinated everything. It wasn’t an issue. People didn’t cart bees all over the country.”

Corporate agriculture methods are more efficient? Maybe not. And the honey bee die-back has been going on for awhile now, apparently.

Cell phones have been around, but use has exploded over the last few years. People really don’t need to use cell phones that much. Mkae it 50c a minute instead of 5, and I think that would reduce usage to emergency situations only, and would bring back the bees. Plus only over the last 5 years have we had GPS signals on phones. We should require phones do less contact with the networks, maybe somehow limiting themselves to when phone calls are being made. People really don’t need cell phones that much, and I think we should pass a ban or hefty tax before it’s too late. Once the damage is done, there’s no turning back. I can’t believe people would be so greedy about wanting to keep their cell phones.

26,

It may be wavelength-dependent. For example, they can see UV, and we can’t. Possibly it is the latest generation of phones that is doing this. It is worth investigating if only to be sure it is not a factor. If that is the case this could possibly be fixed by changing the spectrum used.

Doesn’t seem odd that this all surfaced around the time
Howard Stern left commercial radio and went to satellite.
Seeing that satellite reaches areas his commercial broadcast could not
do you think this would have an effect??

Proof is in the eye of the proofee. Look at all the ever existent holocaust deniers out there. You can blatantly prove something and still have jerks shoot imaginary holes in your proof.

You can lead a brain to knowledge, you just can’t make the person think!

its high problability of being a combination of things but all the ones I will mention are man made problems with disregards to consiquences. These things we can change! WE must do so and now. Or we will go exstinct if the eco system falls apart which it is currently doing

1. wireless communication which involves radio frequencies and radiation or electromegnetic fields, accumulitive effect

2. excessive electrical power lines that act as big gigantuan electro magnets ( and individual line may not matter, its the “acumulitive effect” that counts and the effect is being proven by the weakening of the earth electromagnetic field, which is being recorded as we speak by so pecial dedicated scientists) the way to put into visual perspective the comon person can understand is take a CRT type monitor that uses a megnetic field to function properly and hold small normal magnets up to it then add more and more to the screen , to simulate societies use of energy especially the electricity kind clump the magnets as the greatest consintration of high technology for example N America, Eroupe notice how the distortion is affected where the three fields connect especially where the three fields start to separate. In other words all of the power lines criscrossing the country is acting like one big super electro magnet.
a weaker magnetic field around earth alows more uv , radiation and who knows what else through that hits earth.

3. destruction of habitat to meet HUMANS NEEDS and WANTS ONLY sprawling suburbs, conversion of farmable land to properties for corperate and huge homes. draining wetlands or cutting down forests or clearing meadows in persuit of excessive luxury or to drive and create a unsastainable consumer market for things we cannot sustain enviormentally and ecologically

4. destroying anything and everything that humans deem a nuicense , insects, animal, plants big and small, land formations we deem unfit for humans (wetlands and water overflow flood plains which naturally occurr in rain seasons by the way by doing this water runs off to the ocean before it has a chance to filter down into the underground water supply less water to go around)

5. genetic crop modification (plants been evoving for millions of years for a reason to balance the eco system) WE ARE PLAYING ” GOD (creator of life)” with little to no understanding of the effect it will have to the enviorment and eco system as a whole. example creating plants with insecticides built into the dna insecticides kills indescriminantly not just insects (which we deemed good or bad)but also the animals that eat them as well by acumulitive effect of poison or lack of food to go around.

6. insecticides , hurbicides indiscriminatly kills period! no matter how much the company that made it said it was safe accumulitive affect is especially true here if product is poison in consintration in the container it will be poison when accumulated in the enviormental run off.

7. corperate capitalism which is make a product and induce an artificial demand for products by providing it by lower cost than things we already use and therefore do not need new product. Or creating products that intentionally made cheap with short lifespans to make you buy it more because it breaks. example 20 dollar coffee maker lasts average 6 months in 10 years you buy 20 coffee makers cost you 400$
It also wastes energy, to make those 20 coffee makers compared to making one that lasts 10 years. For that one it may cost 150$-250$ to get one coffee maker that last 10 years and maybe 1/10th of the total energy to produce it compared to the accumulitive energy to produce the 20 coffee makers. {{ The point that I am trying to make is the 80 percent polution reduction has to come from reduction of energy consumption. we reduce consumption and we naturally reduce emmisions}}

If cell phones are the cause that is a horrifying thought because i doubt that everyone is gunna give up their cell. I would, but a lot of people would say “eh screw the bees,” and leave it at that. But bees are one of the most important animals!
i think that scientists should do some more research on this issue before they can be sure, but i also think that the shrinking bee population could be caused by, hmm, i dunno, maybe GLOBAL WARMING? if you wanna save some bees just polute less :]]

It’s obvious.

Bees are social insects.

Cell phones are used in public by rude people.

Naturally, the bees don’t want to be associated with such unsocial behavior so they go elsewhere.

Bravo Bees! Down with bad cell phone behaviour by humans!

Well in the last 4 1/2 billion years there have been many mass extinctions from many natual causes. Every few milion years changes in many different factors can alter dominance or can change any of the predoinant links that effect the whole chain. I think we are a big link in the chain of life and what we do has its consiquences. Cell phone most deffinatly play a role in the demise of the honey bee, one of the most important links in the chain. Isn’t the question, “Should we stop using cell phone for the Bees sake”? With the answer beeing a deffinate “YES” I would say stop all of the brodcasting on land and in space and see if it makes any difference. I don’t have a cell phone but I know peopl who do and I don’t think they will give them up, willingly.

To All Of Mankind ~ Important Message ~
We Better Start getting Serious ~
” To Save our Planet !
is to Save the Honeybee’s ~

Perhaps the widening of markets across individual continents and linking those continents into the same supply chain (aka globalization) is to blame. If a microbe was brought to California from Asia or South America, and that microbe infected bees, and those very same bees were trucked across virtually the entire North American continent, it would follow that the spread of the microbe would be very rapid. This seems to be a standard practice of commercial beekeeping. The colonies are moved all over the continent to pollinate commercial crops. A spread across the Atlantic would be easily accomplished via commerce. There may well come a time when the ecological risks of global trade outweigh the perceived economic and convenience benefits.