Dr. Pattazhy said the electromagnetic waves emitted by the towers crippled the "navigational skills" of the worker bees that go out to collect nectar from flowers to sustain bee colonies. He also found that when a cellphone was kept near a beehive, the worker bees were unable to return, abandoning the hives with only the queen and eggs, leading to a collapse of the colony within 10 days.
This latest development could adversely affect the more than 100,000 people in Kerala who are engaged in apiculture because the dwindling worker bee population poses a threat to their livelihood. Additionally, the bees also play an integral role in pollination to sustain vegetation. Pattazhy sounded the alarm by saying if towers and mobile phones further increase, honey bees might be wiped out in 10 years. Though I am a little skeptical of the "gloom and doom" theory, I do believe that it is paramount that we ascertain what is really happening to the honey bees.
Photo credit: Dark Honey Bee, Ron Hemberger
