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Bees Communicate With Electric Fields

Posted by samzenpus on from the buzz-of-buzzing dept.

sciencehabit writes "The electric fields that build up on honey bees as they fly, flutter their wings, or rub body parts together may allow the insects to talk to each other, a new study suggests. Tests show that the electric fields, which can be quite strong, deflect the bees' antennae, which, in turn, provide signals to the brain through specialized organs at their bases. Antenna deflections induced by an electrically charged honey bee wing are about 10 times the size of those that would be caused by airflow from the wing fluttering at the same distance—a sign that electrical fields could be an important signal."

4 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Unexplained Collapses??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So, this may suggest that our ever increasing use of EM may be responsible for colony collapse disorders.

    1. Re:Unexplained Collapses??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Actually, the mass extinction of bees lately has been traced back to a Bayer pesticide. One of the most used ones. I saw a press release or something where Bayer themselves admitted to it in a convoluted way.

      Strangely, a few days later, it couldn't be found anymore, and a "article" on Snopes popped up, calling it "fake", based on bullshit references that were horribly bad and didn't state anything, and vague unsubstantiated claims.

      I'm sorry. I have seen Bayer admitting it. On their own site. And no statement about being "hacked" of something ever left Bayer after that. Which they could easily have done.

      This, among other things that I myself *actually* checked and found to be not correct, is why I don't trust Snopes anymore. Apparently they fabricate whatever they want, if you pay them enough money.

  2. Question for Mr Gil Grissom... by rmdingler · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder if this can be linked in any way to the dramatic drop in honeybee populations? Does the population drop-off begin near the implementation of any new wireless technology? Correlation may not lead to causation, but it has been known to lead to wild speculation.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  3. True Bee fact by SternisheFan · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Over it's lifetime the average bee will produce only 1/10 of a teaspoon of honey.

    The more you know...