Are Cell Phone Towers Honey Bees Next Big Threat?
As if honey bees don’t have enough to worry about right now, it seems that cell phone towers may be problematic for the insects. According to a new study, a rapid drop in the bee population in Kerala, India is the result of recently installed cell phone towers, and could cause a complete collapse of bee populations within 10 years. Treehuger reports. According to PhysOrg, an experiment conducted in Kerala showed that as mobile phone companies installed towers to expand their network, the bee population shrank. Dr. Sainuddin Pattazhy conducted the study and concluded that the electromagnetic waves from the towers shorted out the navigational abilities of worker bees so that they couldn’t find their way home after going out to collect pollen. The report states, “If towers and mobile phones further increase, honey bees might be wiped out in 10 years, Pattazhy said.” It seems like a highly dramatic conclusion – and one to be skeptical about since the same issues came up a couple years ago.
