Do Mobile Phones damage Bees navigation systems?

Never mind having to turn your phones off in-flight to stop them damaging aircraft navigation systems, there is a major kerfuffle emerging over new research that seems to show that mobile phone transmissions damages bees' navigation too.

This piece in The Independent is a fairly typical summary.

The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees' navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) occurs when a hive's inhabitants suddenly disappear, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature workers, like so many apian Mary Celestes. The vanished bees are never found, but thought to die singly far from home. The parasites, wildlife and other bees that normally raid the honey and pollen left behind when a colony dies, refuse to go anywhere near the abandoned hives.

The alarm was first sounded last autumn, but has now hit half of all American states. The West Coast is thought to have lost 60 per cent of its commercial bee population, with 70 per cent missing on the East Coast.

CCD has since spread to Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. And last week John Chapple, one of London's biggest bee-keepers, announced that 23 of his 40 hives have been abruptly abandoned.

Its an awesome plot for a Sci-Fact novel, I assume Michael Crichton is writing as we speak

Admittedly the research is in the early days, a number of other causes have been proposed (GM crops, increased sunspot activity, Global Warming, new parasites - you name it, its there) and as you may imagine, the Mobile Phone industry has been quick off the mark to scotch all this.

Also its not clear why TV and radio signals have not had this impact over the last 50 years or so, though it has been known that bee behaviour is significantly altered near powerlines.

But, as bees pollinate a fairly large proportion of our food (not to mention the wild flora) this is a potentially very serious outcome. And in the tradeoff between food and 'fone, its clear which takes precedence.

Will we thus see "Mobile Free" zones in agricultural areas ?

(hmmm...could do with that in enclosed public places too, like we are seeing for smoking......)

Is this time for the Great Cell Phone sell-off? Not yet time to short mobile phone stocks perhaps, but one to watch carefully.......