273
The Subtle Life of the Bee
COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER AND THE IMPACTS
OF ELECTROMAGNETISM
Bee losses have increased over the decades, and scientists suspect that many factors could be
responsible for their decline. The Varroa mite, pesticides, viruses, monocultures, poor hygiene in
the hive and climatic factors are the most widely cited possibilities (Fabre, 2011). Commencing in
2003–2004, bee colonies worldwide suddenly began to show symptoms of what was termed colony
collapse disorder (CCD). CCD initially affects the worker bees, which desert the hive. One of the
causal factors is likely to be the constant erosion of the genetic heritage of the species Apis mellifera.
The extraordinary reshuffing of the subspecies, the selection towards pure breeds – which makes
no sense in a non-domesticated animal, and the enormous loss of genetic variability caused by the
artifcial breeding of queens would logically lead to a ‘disease’ of the superorganism of the beehive
(Contessi, 2016).
Recent efforts have been made to study another potential cause of the bee losses: man-made
electromagnetic felds. To understand the potential effects of electromagnetic felds on bees, some
context is necessary. Magneto-reception, the perception of the geomagnetic or electromagnetic
felds, is a sensory modality well-established across all major groups of vertebrates and some invertebrates, although its presence in humans has rarely been tested and has yielded inconclusive results
(Del Bene et al., 2008). Although many migrating and homing animals are sensitive to the Earth’s
magnetic feld, most humans are not consciously aware of the magnetic stimuli that we encounter in
everyday life. Either we have lost a shared, ancestral magneto-sensory system, or our system lacks
a conscious component with detectable neural activity, meaning that there is no apparent perceptual
awareness by us (Wang et al., 2019).
When a biological organism is in an electric and/or magnetic feld, an interaction inevitably takes
place between the forces of the felds and the electric currents present in the tissues of the organism, which are generally good conductors, in particular at low frequencies. The result is always a
‘deviation of the conditions of the tissues from the previous condition of equilibrium’, which can be
indifferent or manifest as advantageous or harmful, and temporary or permanent (Del Bene et al.,
2008).
As already mentioned, fowers vibrate mechanically in response to the buzzing sounds of bees
and emit electrical signals, and it has been hypothesised that these weak electric felds, together
with other chemical and visual signals, increase the fower’s ability to attract pollinating insects.
Studying bumblebees has shown that they are able to better distinguish the colours of fowers when
they are electrically charged. In addition, insects acquire a positive electric charge during fight,
while fowers produce a weak negative charge. When a bumblebee touches a fower, the electric
potential of the plant changes and remains thus for a few minutes. This change allows other bumblebees to understand that the fower has been visited recently. Most of the surface of the bee’s body
has a low potential electric charge. Normally, the antennae carry electric charges opposite to each
other, and this polarity can be inverted, apparently at will, within a second. Bees are sensitive to
electromagnetic felds: low-frequency felds increase their metabolism, while high-frequency felds
cause them to fee. Variations of electromagnetic felds due to anthropogenic interferences can interact negatively with bees, and these interferences can confuse them and prevent them from returning
to the hive. Similarly, bees are also sensitive to geomagnetic perturbations caused by solar fares.
These fares interfere with their orientation and signifcantly increase the number of bees that do not
return to their hive (Contessi, 2017).
In the 1950s, only 10 pW/cm 2 (Pico-Watts per square centimetre) was found on the ground in the
radiofrequency electromagnetic feld spectrum from 100 kHz to 300 GHz, whereas current values
measure from a million to a billion times higher, owing to the rapid development of telecommunications (Del Bene et al., 2008).
Daniel Fabre published a study in 2011 where he linked the massive disappearance of bees that
have been witnessed for almost a decade and especially in Northern Europe and North America, to
The Subtle Life of the Bee
COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER AND THE IMPACTS
OF ELECTROMAGNETISM
Bee losses have increased over the decades, and scientists suspect that many factors could be
responsible for their decline. The Varroa mite, pesticides, viruses, monocultures, poor hygiene in
the hive and climatic factors are the most widely cited possibilities (Fabre, 2011). Commencing in
2003–2004, bee colonies worldwide suddenly began to show symptoms of what was termed colony
collapse disorder (CCD). CCD initially affects the worker bees, which desert the hive. One of the
causal factors is likely to be the constant erosion of the genetic heritage of the species Apis mellifera.
The extraordinary reshuffing of the subspecies, the selection towards pure breeds – which makes
no sense in a non-domesticated animal, and the enormous loss of genetic variability caused by the
artifcial breeding of queens would logically lead to a ‘disease’ of the superorganism of the beehive
(Contessi, 2016).
Recent efforts have been made to study another potential cause of the bee losses: man-made
electromagnetic felds. To understand the potential effects of electromagnetic felds on bees, some
context is necessary. Magneto-reception, the perception of the geomagnetic or electromagnetic
felds, is a sensory modality well-established across all major groups of vertebrates and some invertebrates, although its presence in humans has rarely been tested and has yielded inconclusive results
(Del Bene et al., 2008). Although many migrating and homing animals are sensitive to the Earth’s
magnetic feld, most humans are not consciously aware of the magnetic stimuli that we encounter in
everyday life. Either we have lost a shared, ancestral magneto-sensory system, or our system lacks
a conscious component with detectable neural activity, meaning that there is no apparent perceptual
awareness by us (Wang et al., 2019).
When a biological organism is in an electric and/or magnetic feld, an interaction inevitably takes
place between the forces of the felds and the electric currents present in the tissues of the organism, which are generally good conductors, in particular at low frequencies. The result is always a
‘deviation of the conditions of the tissues from the previous condition of equilibrium’, which can be
indifferent or manifest as advantageous or harmful, and temporary or permanent (Del Bene et al.,
2008).
As already mentioned, fowers vibrate mechanically in response to the buzzing sounds of bees
and emit electrical signals, and it has been hypothesised that these weak electric felds, together
with other chemical and visual signals, increase the fower’s ability to attract pollinating insects.
Studying bumblebees has shown that they are able to better distinguish the colours of fowers when
they are electrically charged. In addition, insects acquire a positive electric charge during fight,
while fowers produce a weak negative charge. When a bumblebee touches a fower, the electric
potential of the plant changes and remains thus for a few minutes. This change allows other bumblebees to understand that the fower has been visited recently. Most of the surface of the bee’s body
has a low potential electric charge. Normally, the antennae carry electric charges opposite to each
other, and this polarity can be inverted, apparently at will, within a second. Bees are sensitive to
electromagnetic felds: low-frequency felds increase their metabolism, while high-frequency felds
cause them to fee. Variations of electromagnetic felds due to anthropogenic interferences can interact negatively with bees, and these interferences can confuse them and prevent them from returning
to the hive. Similarly, bees are also sensitive to geomagnetic perturbations caused by solar fares.
These fares interfere with their orientation and signifcantly increase the number of bees that do not
return to their hive (Contessi, 2017).
In the 1950s, only 10 pW/cm 2 (Pico-Watts per square centimetre) was found on the ground in the
radiofrequency electromagnetic feld spectrum from 100 kHz to 300 GHz, whereas current values
measure from a million to a billion times higher, owing to the rapid development of telecommunications (Del Bene et al., 2008).
Daniel Fabre published a study in 2011 where he linked the massive disappearance of bees that
have been witnessed for almost a decade and especially in Northern Europe and North America, to