If it is cell phones, we will see the end of honey bees forever. Everyone on the roads, at the mall, walking the aisles at every store has a cell phone stuck to his ear. You can't drive or walk without someone who is yelling into a cell phone blocking your way. Just our luck, killer bees are probably immune.

I just saw this story on Good Morning America. Scary, isn't it? I personally hate cell phones but I do have one in case of emergencies. I rarely use it though.

wonder what caused the disappearance of the "wild" colony in my woods? i don't have a cell phone and live at the end of a dead end street with woods on 3 sides. they were nesting in an old tree cavity for a few years but i have not seen them this year.
how close do these phones need to be to the hive to have a negative effect on them?
personally, i think i favor some of the other explanations over this one.

"Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby."
i might not go home either if they did that to me! *lol*

Let's not forget that the cell phone issue is a THEORY! Many scientists don't believe that it's a primary factor in the bee problem.....yet.

well, i am wireless - it is much more convenient. That being said - i wish it would work that way on SKEETERS instead of bees! :) :)

The decline in bee populations is primarily caused by mites. See link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Varroa mite

When I first moved tp Morgan County 12 years ago there were no bee's at all. The farmer down the road saw the plants I was putting in and said to let him know if I see any as they were wiped out by the mites. Now we have a bunch again. Even had one year that they swarmed on my humming bird feeder!

Bob

collinw, the mite problem (which has been occuring for many years) and CCD are two entirely different issues. No one really understands what is causing the death of entire colonies of (mite-free) bees in recent months.

There is no evidence that they are different issues at all. And yes, I guess it could be aliens from outer-space beaming the bees up....but it is much more likely that it is simply the most plausible answer; mites.

Here is a good article that describes the problem. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/04/22/vanishing.bees.reut/index.html Please note, the bees are disappearing, not dying in the hives.

...and more info at the link below.

i did not see mention of cell phones (i think that is journalistic sensationalism) and am inclined to go along with their most plausible theory (imho) that it may be chemical related, causing possible side-effects and leading to stress and immunosuppression within the bees' internal workings.
between this concern and the late killing freezes, the prices of fruits and vegetables will be patterned after the price of gasoline this year!

Here is a link that might be useful: ccd information

Most scientists seem to think that what they are now calling CCD is actually a 'disorder' (because they don't know what else to call it) that has long been observed in the bee keeping community, both here and abroad. For generations, though in much smaller numbers, bees have been doing this same thing. Long before cell phones, by the way! (lol) The term CCD is a new one, just to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

As you can imagine, deceased bees are being evaluated like crazy all over the world! A lot of similarities have cropped up, but nothing (yet) points to any ONE causal agent. Mites are not the instigator of CCD, but can take away from the general well-being of the hive. Bees are also prone to a wide variety of other fungal and bacterial diseases. It could be an instance where the world's bees have just been bombarded by so much that their immune systems are compromised.

Some of the articles I've read seem to focus on a fungal strain, Nosema ceranae, as a contributing factor.

now they are offering that the bee deaths may be caused by a different microscopic mite from asia, not varroa.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to story

I have spoken with spanish beekeeper and the habe between 20 to 40 % of loses, it is horibble we have to invest more in research www.aceitecsb.es

what if its not just the cell phones but the radio towers covering large areas?