Are cell phones bee killers?
April 16th, 2007 | Published in Agriculture, Current Events, Technology | 45 Comments
Technology always has unintended consequences. Cell phones have had many — from car accidents to people wearing strange usb-key-looking-things in their ears. Scientists are suggesting another unintended consequence: bee killing. This is significant not only for ecological reasons but for agricultural — bees pollinate our crops so we can eat. An article in The Independent says:
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….
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…. 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”.
More studies will follow. But let this be a reminder how technology is a bargain — for every advantage, there is a disadvantage that isn’t always obvious. Sometimes “progress” is one step forward, two steps back.
(For further reading on technological consequences, see Neil Postman’s Technopoly.)
Update: Welcome all new visitors! I think Chris, in the comments below, makes great points, so be sure to read that as well. If you like what I have to say, check out the rest of the site and consider subscribing to my feed.
April 18th, 2007 at 12:35 pm (#)
Rediculous, technology is blamed for everything in the environment. We are orchardists, and the problem for the bee shortage in our area, are a type of mite.
Yes, an insect, not a cell phone. The mites have been more prevalent in the past few years, when they die in the hive, and around it, you can’t blame it on
technology. Maybe the bees got tired of the politics of California, and moved on.
April 18th, 2007 at 12:42 pm (#)
Forgot to mention that while the domestic bees are severly affected by this mite, the wild bee population has picked up significantly, not sure why, maybe domestics and wilds don’t along, lol
April 18th, 2007 at 1:07 pm (#)
The current “colony collapse disorder” is not due to the mites. Different problem.
Keep up the denial…
April 18th, 2007 at 2:41 pm (#)
I am an artist who uses beeswax to paint – so am concerned about all the bad buzz about bees. But what I have read suggests that it is not a known causative (such as mites) because the dead are not found. The bees just don’t come home.(so where are they?)
April 18th, 2007 at 5:17 pm (#)
I have no idea if it is mites or cell phones, but…
If it is cell phones and the related radiation, then the drop off should correlate to the amount of energy from cell phones and towers in a given area. Since cell phone networks have been established for a long time now in both the US and Europe, the bees dying off should have happened before this. In other words, the bees should have started dying off as the cell phone traffic increased, not just in the past several years. In addition, the cell phone theory does nothing to explain the spread of the problem. If the problem is cell phone energy, then it should not spread except in areas where cell phone use is expanding. Again cell phone technology has been long established in the US and Europe. Unless there is a new cell phone technology (read as using a different part of the EM spectrum) that is blossoming in the areas where bees are most affected, then I think scientists and bee keepers need to look elsewhere.
April 18th, 2007 at 5:25 pm (#)
Sam:
Good points. But couldn’t the effect be cumulative? Or only happen after the radiation reaches a certain level? Or a certain type of radiation? It’s at least possible, though this may be wrong or just a small contribution to the problem.
April 18th, 2007 at 8:43 pm (#)
This is a fine theory, but the truth about it does not depend on my opinion or that of any other blogger. If cell phone radiation is causing this problem, then it should be a very straight forward thing to perform controlled scientific experiments to either prove or disprove the hypothesis. Ironically, these experiments will require state of the art technology.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:34 am (#)
Sam,
I would venture to guess, that most bee keepers are in rural areas which only recently have been covered by adequate cell phone coverage. This could explain why it is only a recent phenomenon. I don’t think I have seen many bee’s let alone bee keepers in the major urban areas.
April 21st, 2007 at 6:54 am (#)
If the problem truely is cell phone radiation, make a little solar powered “pinger” and put it in the beeyard. Have it ping a unique signal in the radio spectrum that bees see best. (= a homing signal) Just name it after me… Rev. Jon O. Nessle
April 21st, 2007 at 9:13 am (#)
Maybe the Mormons are right…store up a year worth of food and drink…But then my wife says so what do you do when the year is over?…
I’ll bet that no one in the federal government will agree that bee colony collapse disorder even exists before it is too late..Any takers?
April 21st, 2007 at 1:18 pm (#)
It’s an issue of risk assesment. GIven the threat by the reduction in bee populations across North America and Europe, isn’t food security a critical enough issue to treat it with equal severity of any other security issue? If further validation of the colony collapse theory proves true, then industry can begin to develop new methods to circumvent at least the degree of harm the cell phone networks pose. In the meantime, our only hope is that the public relations industry doesn’t white wash the science with corporate interests…
April 22nd, 2007 at 1:08 pm (#)
I think its worth looking into. I mean there may have been mite outbreaks before I doubt such an intense number. Obviously scientists are conducting these experiments on the bees in controlled areas so even if it is mites, cell phones may still have somewhat of an impact on bees, small as it may be. But if it is true, it is going to take quite a bit of convincing to get people to start trying to find alternatives or to give up their cell phone. Honeybees are an important part of the ecosystem and I think they contribute like $55 million to crop value and what not. A decrease would severely affect our farmers and a lot of our food supply. There have been a lot of bees dying around my neighborhood too and they’ve been acting pretty strangely. I don’t know if it has anything to do with it but being a gardener, I fear for my buzzy friends. :). Hopefully there will be more experiments to conclude the problem.
April 23rd, 2007 at 1:07 pm (#)
This topic requires a general understanding of cell technology. Cell towers have very limited range. Cell phones can even be tracked by providers while someone is driving down a road. Thus the name cell phone. This is why coverage until recently was so limited. It’s not like radio transmissions at all. Even now very large areas have no coverage. Because we spend so much time on or near major highways we get the false impression that cell coverage is quite broad. Not until very recently has coverage been expanded to less densely populated areas. When deciphering a new problem, the first thing to ask is “what changed”. One thing that has absolutely changed is cell phone radiation in rural farming areas. This is true throughout 1st world economies. I would be very interested to see if this problem is occurring in poor nations that have near zero cell phone coverage. My guess is that the problem doesn’t exist in such areas. If there is information on bee populations in non cell areas It would be very compelling evidence indeed. Remember also that there are a lot of people with huge amounts of money invested in cell phone tech. If cell phones truly are causing this very real problem then the implications on a very commonly used technology are enormous. In fact the biggest technological setback in history. If cell phones are causing this problem there will likely be a complete shutdown of the system outside of metropolitan areas. Time to invest in satellite phones I guess. Finally I live in a farming area and have noticed a decline in bees. Purely subjective, true, but cell coverage here (a formal dead spot) has been very recently upgraded.
May 2nd, 2007 at 2:19 am (#)
All I know is that blue tooth technology really took off within this last year at least where I circulate (among healthcare workers and military folk). I also noticed in this last half of a year or so the number of times my surround sound speakers (on standby) pick up a cell phone signal just before it reaches my phone. It goes, “tick tick tick tick”. I only mention this because it suggests that there really is some kind of interferance that just may be polluting the aerospace for bees or specific insects that previously reserved that aerospace for their means of navigation or communication. If I were a fit scientist, I’d be all over this one. What’s scary however, if it were resulting from something of our technology, developing an alternate technology, replacing it, and accomodating economic demands in the order to do so would be a miracle.
May 3rd, 2007 at 6:11 pm (#)
Because the use of cell phones has indeed been around, heavy the more populated areas in areas of Asia, Europe and America for years now, I would think the drop off would have happened sooner.. but I from all the reading I have done this issue still seems like it fits the problem.. maybe with the recent addition of the new super hi-speed GPRS, EvDO, EDGE, wifi, wimax, and finally saturation of rural areas (like Chris says above) with these types of radiation.. all of these wireless techs are blooming now… bigger more widespread and powerful connection speeds.. etc.. it’s at an all time high now.. so maybe it IS hitting the saturation point in places it had not before and causing this bee problem.. whatver it is… it’s not just sad.. it’s cataclysmic! all the worlds crops depend on bees.. we depend on the crops.. at any rate, we really need to check to see if the same things are happening in cell free reagions.. and if it’s not, cut the cell networks back over rural farming areas.. way back.. confine the radiation to major cities and such..
May 3rd, 2007 at 9:31 pm (#)
Science-fiction, understandably, hasa reputatin for being far-fetched. The big-profit globalists are about to find out that sciene-NONfiction is ever more far-fetched (and then some)
hese poor saps are about to find out that unless they decide to stop making huge profits from the cell phone as it is configured today, that there won’t be anyone left to sell the death-dealing phones to!
Memo for the Rockerfeller wanna-abes: you think that Ralph Nader cut into the profits of automakers with his safety belts? You ain’t seen nothin’yet.
May 5th, 2007 at 9:42 pm (#)
For years, the human race has damaged the delicate life balance of insects and mamals alike. From diverted migration routes in whales, and from the destruction of mating grounds for various birds and mamals. The human race has severly disrupted the delicate balance of nature and in the mix is the human race.
As the world grows, the demand for resources increases, our future relatives will find it harder and harder to find the things they need to live, and prices will continue to skyrocket. Not only has gasonline signaled a economic and natural emergancy, but now we are finding the most simplest of creatures to be just as serious. You may not realize it, but bumble bees play a major role in the balance of life. Bumble bees are one of the top pollinators and one of the only polinatators for some plant species. Bumble bees communicate on a series of “bumble bee frequencies” and must use these frequences to communicate.
In a way, we have jammed their communication for mating, returning to the hive, and for distibuting information about where the food is. Not only are bumble bees effeted by the disruption of cell phone signals, but so are other species of bees as well. Without this line of communication, the bees will die, and are dieing.
People are not so willing to give up their cell phones, but alternative ideas and inventions should be looked for in order to solve this problem. The future generation had better be smart and very great inventors, because we cannot travel the same path forever. Gasoline and bumble bees are two warning signs for the world to come. Why wait for things to happen? We should try to find alternatives before it is too late so that our ancestors dont have to pay down the road.
May 7th, 2007 at 7:44 pm (#)
one thing i do know is that it is only in the past five years that digital networks have been errected in rural areas. traditionally, they have been analog. indeed i believe the transition from a analog network to a digital one is nation wide and government funded by homeland security since 9-11.
for instance. onstar, by gm, uses the verizon network along with gps. coverage is almost nationwide now, even in 75% of all rural networks. early onstar vehicles used analog technology. we just got a memo at work that those vehicle’s onstar system will no longer work as of date xx/xx/xxxx (protecting the company, but it is REALLY soon).
May 8th, 2007 at 12:44 am (#)
We Need a st6udy that mapps the aera around the cell phone towers and shows the bee population .
1) Bring in Healthy Bees
2) Setup bee hives around the cell phone towers
3) check The populatation change over the summer
This would not be hard to set up
May 11th, 2007 at 1:37 pm (#)
I recall reading a suggestion that the problem was more acute in the portable beehives that are trucked around to different orchards and fields for pollinating commercial crops. Apparently the transport of beehives had increased to the point of causing significant stress on the bees, which resulted in bees not gathering nectar. Just a news article — I haven’t seen any detailed study information supporting this view.
Regarding the cellular network hypothesis, I can say from many years experience working with both wireline and wireless networks that the networks today are quite different from 5-8 years ago, in terms of traffic volume, coverage area, and transmission power and technology. These basic facts alone certainly don’t establish cause-and-effect relationships, but they are material changes suggesting that properly defined and documented studies would be worthwhile to determine if there is in fact a relationship between mobile network growth and bee colony deterioration.
May 12th, 2007 at 12:48 pm (#)
how come when we point out the danger or potential danger of an action or activity,. we are assumed to be against whoever’s interests are effected,. ? Perhaps sain people just like to know whats going on and why, perhaps we don’t have an agenda, save for self preservation. Why would you not be willing and eger to abandon a habit that is hurting you? with out bees food production becomes even more difficult,. . cell phones are not majik they manipulate invisible feilds and produce directionless bursts of radiation,. sometimes these actions do have effects,. some are not plesent.
June 5th, 2007 at 8:46 pm (#)
A few words to Andrewspeach..
Perhaps the Radiation of our electronics has built up to a level that causes the bees to have a weaker immune system that cannot defend itself against these “mites”. The bees are not dying in their hives by the way.
July 21st, 2007 at 2:48 am (#)
My feelings are, that the mites, the chemicals and the disapearance phonomina all play a roll and to ignore one and change the other makes no sence, but we do what we can. Although this is true cell phones deffinately play a role in the whole thing. In Vancouver most of the people have one and are talking on it or messeging, all day and it grows more readilly avalable. I guess we need to decide is it better to talk to your wife, from work, while she runs a red light or more important to have bees and I think we all know the answer. But are people going to give up thier phones. “I doubt it”
July 22nd, 2007 at 3:58 pm (#)
has anyone heard of “Chemtrails”? Google it…we have to take everything into consideration.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:00 pm (#)
God help us all if this is true !
August 11th, 2007 at 9:02 pm (#)
So why does not the NY times or espn inestigate this. Dear God this has apocalypic implications on a global scale and yet Paris Hilton next fling is far more important. What has happen to us as human beings. We have certainly have made a mess of things in the last 60 years. Can’t we just suck it up, admit that things we did were not such a good idea and roll up our sleeves and start cleaning up the mess. If this is true and it is proven out then I will be one of the first in line to toss my phone. Like someone stated earlier this would be an excellant opportunity to start working on satellite phones.
August 15th, 2007 at 12:27 pm (#)
Could cell phones also have some relationship to the increasing disruption in the human navigation system, the inner ear. I’ve been noticing lately that more and more people including friends and family are being diagnosed with “Meniere’s Disease”. Or what doctors think is Meniere’s disease.
February 17th, 2008 at 4:50 pm (#)
While we are worrying about the bees, perhaps we should consider the strong assertion that cell phone usage, wifi, etc. is also causing insomnia, depression and other problems among humans. Maybe the bees are a warning to us. Nature does sense catastrophe ahead of man, typically. We have lost our connection to the natural world.
April 12th, 2008 at 3:01 am (#)
Mobile phones have advantages and disadvantages. Even though there are many controversies about the health hazards of mobile phone radiation on humans, it is very clear that use of mobile phones will affect the health and behaviour of humans. The impact of mobile phone radiation on beneficial insects like honey bees and natural enemies should be scientifically studied in detail.
May 15th, 2008 at 8:14 am (#)
There is, of course, the very probable chance that there is no link between cellphones and bee deaths. Wouldn’t you feel silly pushing for the elimination of cellphones (hampering modern technology) only to find that the trouble with the bees still remains? Let’s not forget that the “cellphone” explanation is only one of several possible guesses being brought forward as to why these bees are dying out. It could also be due to a certain type of observed fungus or also a virus amongst the bees.
I’m a little skeptical of the cellphone theory for bees myself. I lived in a house with a beekeeper who kept his hives in a field near our house. I recall cellphones being used around the house, and yet the bees stayed fine and healthy with no abandoned hives.
I’m skeptical as to whether bees even pick up on cellphone signals like some people have asserted. The insects having antennae is not enough for me to conclude that those antennae could pick up or recognize cellphone signals. I would think the biological system of the bees and technological system of the cellphones would be rather incompatible.
May 26th, 2008 at 3:42 pm (#)
What are the effects on cell phones on China and Japan?
I am always astonished by the complete ingnoring of half (or more) of the world in “scientific” studies, be they on bees and cell phones, or on human behavior. No mention was found above of China, Japan or Asia. What’s the scene in those 2/3 of the world? (or so)
Honey bees are not native to North America, in my understanding. Since we now “farm” them the way we farm other animals, maybe we have weakened the strains used, and that is now effecting the bees used. Something like mono-culture of corn, where the exact same type is grown for thousands of acres, so if it gets sick one place, the whole crop is destroyed. Could some susceptibility have been bred into honey bees, that is now coming out? Maybe even a weakness regarding the electromagnetic spectrum used to navigate? A weakness to mites, or some other disease?
I don’t know if anyone has been looking into it from these angles, but I certainly know that *I* don’t know. I like bees, so I hope someone with knowledge, equipment and wisdom looks into this!
Thanks.
June 12th, 2008 at 7:54 am (#)
I do not think cell-phones are be killers.I think that scientist should try and find out what the bee problem is and find now.
June 15th, 2008 at 11:42 pm (#)
While I am not a scientist,I know that bees need food; therefore, plant, plant, plant. The more flowers and plants that bees love, the better chance they have while we are trying to find the solution to their decrease.
Who knows what the problem is–pollution (noise, chemical, air, radiation, etc. At least we can do our part to feed them.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:27 pm (#)
set up beehives around cell phone towers and set some up where there is no cell phone coverage and see how they differ. I believe the answer is a combination of things, mostly on the increased population of people and their pollution, including pesticides…
July 14th, 2008 at 5:49 pm (#)
As I sit in front of my computer writing this, my cell phone is sitting right here next to me. My speakers are on. Whenever a cell call comes in, or I receive a text message, my speakers start going haywire. As I listen closely, the sound is somewhat similar to a fax machine.
It’s obvious to me that the sounds are the audible representation of data packets or whatever is transmitted via a cell phone.
If the data coming into my cell phone interferes with the speakers on my computer, it’s very possible that a bee, with its own receiving antennae, can be disrupted by the signal.
People on this blog are throwing out some matter of fact comments about this problem. Where are you getting your facts, and what is your experience? Identify your foundation of knowledge, please.
July 20th, 2008 at 7:20 pm (#)
Bees are killed by cell phones? Imagine that. I heard that many people are killed using them when driving. That means only one thing. Bees should stop flying around using cell phones…
July 21st, 2008 at 1:01 am (#)
Obviously the drones are taking a sabbatical, I mean, the work can be repetitive . . . (just kidding).
Seriously, I read a blog from a bee owner who mentioned two factors: 1. People are trucking & flying their hives all over to pollinate, and they’re stressed; 2. she had normal sized bees, but many owners preferred oversized breeds. I filed the info. in my brain (not bookmarks), but perhaps it was in here:
More info at
www-organicconsumers-org/bees-cfm
Re: food supplies, check out monsanto; if their patented GM seed blows onto a farmer’s field, farmer Pays, or else be sued. “Laleva” not my site, just an interesting one; it has an emf link also.
Victoria
January 9th, 2009 at 9:36 pm (#)
THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!
1. Geeze, people, there has been radiation at a MUCH higher rate around bees than cell phones will ever create. You just haven’t known about it because you haven’t cared until you got your cell phone.
2. You must all be city slickers. Go for a drive in the country sometime. I mean drive 2 or 3 hours out into the country, not just to the nearest suburb. You will discover no cellular coverage, no pollution, no overcrowding, no landfills, no airplanes colliding in the skies, no light pollution, no terrorism, no crime, no bomb threats, etc. etc.
If all you people who are panicked because the sky is falling would just go spend a few days in the country, you would realize that we don’t need the Federal Government for much of anything, and that life is doing very, very well out here. The earth will probably someday slough off all the cities and breathe a sigh of relief.
June 6th, 2009 at 11:57 pm (#)
Here’s my take on the subject. Go to the source. My brother has been working on cell towers since he was 18, he’s now 26, has his own company. He has mentioned to me many times that while he is on top of towers, there are dozens of bees up there with him. He has no fear of them however because they just barely hover in the air, bouncing into everything and each other. one day i’ll interview him and put it on youtube. Anyone else know a TowerDog, go ask em’, see what they say. you never know till you try.
June 16th, 2009 at 6:59 am (#)
Albert Einstein said something about the bee population years and years ago…4 years left to live if they die off. You would think that would get people thinking but nobody cares because they think that it is just BS. Well that would be all the cell phone users out there, who won’t give up talking on their cell phone to save one of the species that we depend on for our survival. I don’t even own a cell phone because of this. Everyone thinks I am crazy. How can you not have a cell phone (they say)? It is more important to me to try to to be part of the solution than part of the problem. It may be 10 years down the road but the bees are dying off and our crops are already suffering because of it. Stay in that state of denial. Keep blaming it on everything else. Just so you can talk to your friend before you get home. Cell phones are a VERY unnecessary luxary that we cannot afford to keep on using. Bees however are VERY necessary!! I hope that all of you remember this blog when you are starving and people are killing people for their food (like we see in the movies). You laugh now, you won’t be laughing then I am sure.
July 15th, 2009 at 5:28 am (#)
Has anyone been lucky enough to be close to any bees lately?
One day I was sitting on a curve, outside a hospital, texting my sister about my fiance being in there.
As soon as I sent that msg, No Joke! something fell right infront of me on the street! It caught my attention. As I looked on the street infront of me, I saw this bee half “dizzy” like. Lucky after about 2 mins of “dizziness”, it flew off, still rather drunk like, but maybe it lived.?
Coincidence? I don’t know. Anyone else with a simular story?
February 17th, 2010 at 5:30 am (#)
Look at the facts… (1) the adult bees are disappearing, i.e. not returning to the hive. (2) other bees and insects are not raiding the declining hive for food/supplies as they normally would. (3) The queen bee is still present while the hive is declining. (4) young bees are still present while the hive is declining. (5) abandoned hives are only fit for re-population with a healthy colony after being treated with DNA destroying radiation. …What this says to me is that there is a problem within the hive itself, either within the food supply for the adults (honey), the hive material, a contaminating virus or pest, or something that causes the adult bees to stay away or abandon it. THE BIGGEST CLUE IS THAT OTHER BEES AND INSECTS ARE NOT RAIDING THE DECLINING HIVE as they normally would, both they and the deserting adult bees know something we don’t about the hive and/or its remaining contents. THIS MEANS THAT CELL PHONE TOWER EMISSIONS CANNOT BE A CONTRIBUTOR to the problem, otherwise raids from other insects would occur as normal. The problem seems to be inside the hive, maybe a buildup of toxins from pesticides, DNA mimicking disruptors, effects from genetically modified crops, etc.
May 5th, 2010 at 4:43 pm (#)
I had heard of the deadly mites! What people fail to understand is that all forms of our ever growing technology have an effect on everything else. Sound radiation is huge everything we use has a vibration! Why is it so hard to convince people of this! When it is obviously fact. Not to mention the large amounts of CO2 effects the immunity to fight off mites and other such predators.
What do we do? Well we turn our SHIT around and learn from the mistakes we’ve been making. Instead of mowing and tilling lets use permaculture techniques (the answer to so many problems), tilling soil isn’t even beneficial, for it becomes anaerobic and has no permeability. Lets get back to basics here with the knowledge of what we know NOW, technology is important for these such studies, but lets use it so it is intelligently in tune with our environment. It is all man made these issues you see.
pollution, high amounts of co2 effecting insect immune systems, insect becomes receptive to predators (mites), the cell phone is another addition, radiation hello this computer we are sitting in front of causes radiation. Lets spend money on energy issues, not war or flying off into space, our earth is here, lets protect it and respect it. We as humans are not an essential addition to the symbiotic relationship of this planet and do not bring beneficial additives, but we can start and we will, we must
May 24th, 2010 at 7:57 pm (#)
I don’t NEED a cell phone and never have. Most of these
people who THINK they do, don’t. It amazes me how many
“scientists” there are on this page who comment on how absurd
this idea is when they have no real knowledge.
January 11th, 2011 at 11:57 pm (#)
..it’s interesting that the bee/bat issue
started appearing in areas where emf’s first
started appearing in concentration (on the coasts)
the sensitive guidence system of these creatures
can’t adjust to the sudden increase in EMF in
their enviorment.