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Scientists: honeybee killer may be sunspots

Posted Apr 01, 2007 at 06:27AM by Dia A. Listed in: Science Tags: magnetic field, sunspots, pesticides
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bees disappeared because of the sun? - Image 1 More than a month ago, we covered a story about bees disappearing for a yet unknown reason. The hypotheses presented on this mysterious disappearance of bees called Colony Collapse Disorder, were the following: pesticides, mites, and/or poor management of the bee farmers.


But in a study made by Barbara Shipman, mathematician and daughter of a bee researcher, a different reason for the disappearance of bees was given: sunspots. A sunspot is a region on the Sun's surface that is marked by a lower temperature than its surroundings and intense magnetic activity. Sunspots follow an estimated 11-year cycle, corresponding to increases in solar activity.

Whatever have sunspots to do with honeybees? Shipman studied the complex dance that honeybees do when signaling pollen sources to their colony. As a mathematician, Shipman analyzed that this complex bee-dance is influenced by things such as polarization of the light of the sun and local variations of the earth's magnetic field.

Shipman's studies suggest that bees are sensitive to quantum-mechanical effects such as magnetic fields and electromagnetic waves. In the bee disappearance case, it may be no coincidence that the predicted next solar maximum in 2010 could be the most intense ever. This view suggests that because of the coming sunspot peak, the quantum field to which bees may be sensitive could have been disturbed.

Let's put it this way: because of Shipman's views, scientists are suggesting that the Colony Collapse Disorder may have been caused by bees losing their navigation skills because of the disturbed magnetic activity. They may have flown skyward, attempting to keep up with the rapidly moving target of home in six dimensions. Or, hyperdimentsional bee-eaters could have emerged from the sunspot, phasing the bees out of existence on contact.

Sounds weird now, but someday maybe we'll understand it better. As physicist David Hathaway puts it, "We don't know why this works. The underlying physics is a mystery. But it does work."

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2 Comments


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   by Juanse (Unregistered) - 2007-04-09
 » And the rest of the world bees
If sunspot are the cause why bees on other places of the world do not disapear?


   Re: Mike (Unregistered) - 2007-04-26
 » bees
just google BEES MISSING BBC EUROPE and you will find germany and greece and more.


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