Scientists at Punjab University have recently revealed findings which indicate that radiation caused by mobile phones can cause extreme changes in the behaviour of bees. How bizarre! But they are important, as these findings are being touted as an explanation for the worldwide bee and honey shortage.

Hold on though, this isn’t new news!  Stories about this have been buzzing around (cheap play on words, but I had to) for years now. Way back in 2007, there was speculation that the bee shortage was caused by an increase in the use of mobile phones throughout the world. Beekeepers at that point had reported changes in behaviour of their bees, which increased when mobile phones were in the vicinity. And prior to that, there was research conducted by German scientists which showed that bees’ behaviour changed around power lines – surely common sense should tell us that mobile phones would have a similar effect.

But, anyway, now that we’ve got further scientific proof, what can be done? Well, the simple answer is reduce the use of mobile phones. And the chances of that happening?  I say slim to none. So what can we do in the meantime?  Do we care about saving bees? We should! Not only do they produce honey and pollinate flowers which keep this wonderful world of ours breathing and looking beautiful, but they’re responsible for pollination of the majority of the fruits and vegetables that we consume as well.

I’m not speaking out against mobile phones here – I think they’re great and am sure that with the way technology is going they’ll become even more indispensible in the future, and to be honest anything that makes my life easier is welcomed with open arms. But we’ve got to be aware of the consequences of human interference with nature – it’s the same song that we’ve been hearing for ages, but until something’s done we risk losing a lot of things we take for granted, but would miss greatly when they’re gone. Minor changes in our behaviour and increased awareness of the impacts of our actions will go a long way to ensuring the future of bees is secure (and other plants and animals too!), and also allow us to live happily in our tech-filled world.