Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?

Link to article in The Independent:

"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."

[...and if that wasn't enough...]

"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."

Comments

[Paula]

If it's cell phones, why would the bees start disappearing suddenly like that? Cell phones have been around for a while now, and as far as I know, bee lifespans aren't terribly long.

I did not know that other critters were steering clear of the honey leftover from abandoned hives. I wonder how much of that abandoned honey is in the food supply, and what is wrong with it?

[mondo]

Cell phones have been around for almost 20 years. On the other hand, the use of ELF towers and the HAARP project out of Alaska first went into full use just 18 months ago. Couple that with the aerosol spraying, thats your answer.