Why a mobile phone ring may make bees buzz off: Insects infuriated by handset signals
27 replies, posted
[quote=MailOnline]
Phone signals confuses bees and cause them to begin flying erratically before suddenly dying
Signals from mobile phones could be partly to blame for the mysterious deaths of honeybees, new research shows.
In the first experiment of its kind, a bee expert placed a mobile phone underneath a hive and then carefully monitored the reaction of the workers.
The bees were able to tell when the handsets were making and receiving calls, and responded by making the high pitched squeaks that usually signal the start of swarming.
[img]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/05/11/article-1385907-0BFB3185000005DC-881_468x353.jpg[/img]
Dr Daniel Favre, who carried out the experiment, believes signals from mobile phones and masts could be contributing to the decline of honeybees and called for more research.
But British bee experts say there is still no evidence that mobile phones posed a risk.
They blame the vanishing honeybees on changes in farming, the decline of wild flowers and pesticides.
The number of honeybees in the UK has halved in the last 25 years while in America bees have been badly hit by 'colony collapse disorder' - the sudden disappearance of entire colonies over winter.
Experts say bees have been badly hit by the varroa mite, a blood-sucking parasite that makes colonies vulnerable to disease, freak weather or poisoning.
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Some experts say the latest generation of pesticides may disrupt the nervous systems of bees, causing them to get lost and confused.
And most bee experts say the creatures are suffering from the loss of wild flowers, meadows, rough pasture and untidy gardens.
However, a handful of experts say mobile phones could also be partly to blame.
Dr Favre, a teacher who previously worked as a biologist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, said: 'This study shows that the presence of an active mobile phone disturbs bees - and has a dramatic effect.'
He placed two mobile phones under a beehive and recorded the high pitched calls made by the bees when the handsets were switched off, placed on stand-by and activated.
Around 20 to 40 minutes after the phones were activated, the bees began to emit "piping" calls - a series of high pitched squeaks that announce the start of swarming.
Within two minutes of the phone call ending, the worker bees calmed down.
In the study, the bees did not swarm - even after 20 hours' exposure to mobile phone signals. However, the onset of unexpected swarming triggered by mobile phone signals could have 'dramatic consequences in terms of colony losses', Dr Favre reports in the bee keeping journal Apidologie.
The study did not show that mobile phones were deadly for bees, he said.
"But one hypothesis is that electromagnetic fields could be contributing to the disappearance of bee colonies around the world," he added.
But British bee expert Norman Carreck of Sussex University said: 'It's an interesting study but it doesn't prove that mobile phones are responsible for colony collapse disorder. If you physically knock a hive, or open one up to examine it, it has the same result.
'And in America many cases of colony collapse disorder have taken place in remote areas far from any mobile phone signals.'
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If they fucked up the wasps I'd be happier.
it's always been known that electrical interference disturbs bees
Any specific frequency that does this?
Is it one of the GSM ones?
Now I want to take one of those GSM/GPS/3G jammers to a bunch of bees.
It's pretty sad because bee's are so important but yet people don't care.
[QUOTE=nikomo;29776785]Any specific frequency that does this?
Is it one of the GSM ones?
Now I want to take one of those GSM/GPS/3G jammers to a bunch of bees.[/QUOTE]
But bees aren't the bad ones! They pollinate flowers! The wasps are the ones you should be after, because all they do is sting you.
[QUOTE=FPtje;29776533]If they fucked up the wasps I'd be happier.[/QUOTE]
Wasp is an asshole, nothing fucks up assholes.
It's probably less caused by the carrier signal, and more so caused by inaudible audio frequencies. If this theory held true, then there shouldn't be any large bee colonies taking hold in large cities.
[QUOTE=johan_sm;29776827]Wasp is an asshole, nothing fucks up assholes.[/QUOTE]
dicks fuck assholes
Africanized bees are actually angered by electricity, and instead of flying erratically they'll charge at the source of electricity and sting the shit out of it
Bees are nice. One time one of them landed on my hand and just looked around for a few seconds before flying off to pollinate another flower.
Wasps are mean
Ahh alas my Bumbloid army will never rise while this technology exists.
Odd, there was some other research posted here that said the opposite :v:
This could explain why tons of bees are dying.
tons of electrical interferance everywhere since we are becoming more technologically advanced
[QUOTE=DrBreen;29778054]dicks fuck assholes[/QUOTE]
Oh god I don't want my dick even near a wasp
The thought of them biting and stinging my dick's head ... kinda turns me on
If it's possible I want something that will kill off wasp hives.
I'm allergic to Wasp venom, when I'm stung my air passages close up and I'd probably suffocate to death if left that way for a long enough while. :ohdear:
Silly old wasps
Bum bum bum bum bum-ble bees all the way.
On a related note my entire chemistry class was about bees today. It was awesome.
bees are pretty much the most important insects on our planet, shame to think unless we change our ways (which we wont) that all the bees will be gone one day :( atleast people will realise how much we need them once their cell phones and shit don't work because the world has gone completely fucked as all plants that need bees to spread pollen or w/e are now dead!
I got a venus fly trap last year just to control the flow of wasps that get into my room.
It worked, they are the most almighty plants in the history of existence.
bees are right up there with leaf cutter ants as awesome animals
the bees make honey and the leaf cutter ants make mushrooms and they get together and have feasts inside tree houses :buddy:
[QUOTE=bravehat;29793330]I got a venus fly trap last year just to control the flow of wasps that get into my room.
It worked, they are the most almighty plants in the history of existence.[/QUOTE]
Don't these things take weeks to digest 1 insect?
[QUOTE=johan_sm;29793594]Don't these things take weeks to digest 1 insect?[/QUOTE]
Yup.
Raid on the other hand, you have to go out and buy a new can every week
[img]http://images.shopletcdn.com/productimages/300x300/DRA94898_1_3.JPG[/img]
It kicks their asses...
[QUOTE=Ohforf;29795662]But bees are the cool ones :frown:
Alot of times they land on my hand or shoulder and just chill out for a moment before going on with their lives, they're awesome[/QUOTE]
Bees always have a task, so they're busy. Wasps on the other hand have nothing to do so they go around fucking up shit.
If it infuriates bees, doesn't that mean it could just piss them off and make them attack you? :ohdear:
I'd prefer it working on spiders to stop them coming into my house :smith:. I like honey bees and would prefer it to affect spiders or wasps.
[QUOTE=lulzbocksV2;29779342]Bees are nice. One time one of them landed on my hand and just looked around for a few seconds before flying off to pollinate another flower.
Wasps are mean[/QUOTE]
If bees could talk they'd most likely take the voice of a small, curious child.
Wasps would take the voice of Tim Curry.
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