Cell phones contrinbuting to bee decline?

[Captain Picard's Hair]

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/are-mobile-phones-causing-the-decline-in-bee-numbers-50003738/

I wouldn't imagine it's the complete answer but it's an interesting possibility. The researchers still have to explain the mechanism by which phones could upset bees. Anyway, it's an interesting problem that bee populations are crashing and this forum's been dead lately.

[Mikey]

I've seen this theory proposed many times, starting about 5 years ago. Interestingly, I've heard the exact same theory proposed as to why Africanized honeybees continue to extend their range farther and farther north. Personally, I think the bee dance-communications more closely resembles the language of our unseen alien overlords, and the bees are being taken as interstellar ambassadors of Earth.

[Tyyr]

I'd like some explanation as to the mechanism. We're talking radio frequencies in the gigahertz. How are the bee's picking that up and being annoyed by it?

[GrahamKennedy]

Does the bee decline correlate with the degree of cell phone use? I'd think it would be easy to map that.

[Tyyr]

Correlation does not equal causation. You could just as easily show that the decline of the payphone is directly related to the decline of the bees, or the decline of the Mercury automobile brand is correlated, or the rise of 4chan.

Bee populations have been declining and cell phone use increasing. It's happening at the same time. Does one have anything to do with the other? I really need to have someone show me how a bee is picking up on a multi-gigahertz radio signal.

[Mikey]

Well, DUH - the bees are obviously leaving because all of THEIR phones were already using those frequencies, and now they're getting too much interference.

[GrahamKennedy]

Correlation does not equal causation.

No, but it's a good first step.

Bee populations have been declining and cell phone use increasing. It's happening at the same time. Does one have anything to do with the other? I really need to have someone show me how a bee is picking up on a multi-gigahertz radio signal.

Yes, but that's too generic. Is there a geographical pattern to where and when the bees vanish? Does it match the pattern of mobile phone growth? If it does, that starts to be pretty compelling.

[Tyyr]

It can be, agreed. I doubt that they've got that though.

[Mikey]

It can be, agreed. I doubt that they've got that though.

I wouldn't. This is a theory that's been out for many, many years, and has had some real research behind it. I don't care enough about this theory to actually bother finding any of it, but I wouldn't be surprised to find such second-level research and analysis having been done.