Friday, July 2, 2010

Stop calling


I'm not sure what to make of this one. But it is interesting to note. If we want to save the worlds food supply, we might need to stop using cell phones.

What, doesn't make sense?

Well, your cell phone may be effecting the pollination of our flowers.

For years, bee populations have been declining, and a recent study questions whether cell-phone radiation may be to blame.

Last year, bee populations dropped 17 percent in England, according to the British Bee Association, and almost 30 percent in America, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Since the 1980s, the varroa mite has been considered a prime suspect as the killer of billions of bees around the world. It's a parasitic mite, sucking the blood of the bee, and it can also reportedly spread a virus that causes a bee's wing to become deformed. Much time and energy has gone into fighting the varroa mite -- New Zealand, for instance, plans to soon release bees that are genetically resistant to varroa mites.

And while this news doesn't really get the varroa mite off the hook -- or the hive beetle, another pest that threatens our pollinating friends -- the study, conducted by researchers at Panjab University in India, suggests that cell-phone radiation may also be hurting the bee cause.

Researchers fitted cell phones to a hive and powered up the phones for two 15-minute periods each day. Three months later, the honey stopped. The Queen Bee also had trouble with her egg production, and the size of the hive diminished.

There may be reason to sound the alarm. Bees pollinate 90 percent of commercial crops, worth $12 billion in the United States, according to CNN. But almost every country has a thriving beekeeping industry. A lot of money -- not to mention food -- stands to be lost if bees someday die off.


Read the rest of the article here.

2 comments:

DianeLynn said...

I wouldn't doubt it. Every time "man" comes up with something to make life easier or whatever it effects nature.
I have to admit that even some of the conveniences I use I get that guilty feeling. Take this lap top I use. Though it is a recycled one and I do enjoy having friends all over the world...well it puts me between a rock and a hard place.
But one thing I do know that if this things dies I know that I will not be replacing it. The tech stuff carries a blessing as well as a curse. It is what it is eh?

Doug said...

Unintended consequences truly are a bane to so much of our modern day conveniences. I don't know if I would throw the baby out with the bath water though.

I do often wish that I was willing to do more with less. One day I'll get there.

Thanks for reading.
D.