Mobile phone radiation appears to significantly reduce the hatching ratio but not the mating success of the honey bee

In April 2019 researchers from Germany published the results of their research to assess the effect of radiation from a common mobile phone device (GSM band at 900 MHz) on honey bee queen larvae during all stages of their pre-adult development including pupation. When a mobile phone is used there is a direct point-to-point connection between the device and the broadcast tower which puts the surrounding environment into contact with radiofrequency electromagnetic field radiation. After 14 days of exposure to this radiation, the hatching of adult queens was assessed together with mating success after a further 11 days. In addition, full colonies were established with five adult queens who had not been exposed to mobile phone radiation as well as four adult queens exposed to the radiation to compare population dynamics. Results showed that mobile phone radiation significantly reduced the hatching ratio but not the mating success of the honey bees. However, it was also seen that if queens exposed to mobile phone radiation successfully mated, the development of their colony did not appear to be adversely affected.

Odemer R, Odemer F. Effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation (RF-EMF) on honey bee queen development and mating success. Sci Total Environ. 2019 Apr 15;661:553-562

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