Scientists investigating the activity of bees close to towers that actively transmit electric energy think that their radiation has a harmful impact on the pollinators.
The study – carried out by researchers from Chile and Argentina near the town of Quinamavida, central Chile – shows that the chance honeybees visit a flower is more than 300 per cent lower if there is a high-voltage electric transmission tower in its immediate vicinity.
According to the science news platform Phys.org, the biologists and ecologists chose honeybees as previous examinations suggested that the insects were navigating using natural electromagnetic fields.
The experts opted to focus on electric transmission towers rather than power lines because they had access to similar towers without power lines. These circumstances enabled them to compare data.
The South American scientists – who published their findings in the journal Science Advances – counted the number of poppies flowering around active towers and towers that were inactive. They determined that there were far fewer flowering poppies around the active towers.
After having measured the electromagnetic fields around multiple towers, the researchers collected several honeybee specimens foraging near the towers to measure the levels of a certain stress-related protein in their bodies.
Phys.org reports that the investigation revealed higher hormone levels in honeybees that were circulating the closest to the towers.
The scientists then brought more honeybees to their lab for further research. They exposed them to different amounts of electromagnetic radiation before measuring expressions related to 14 genes known to be linked with stress, navigation and the immune system. They detected differences in 12 of those exposed to electromagnetic radiation.
The experts eventually concluded that electromagnetic fields around electric transmission towers have a detrimental effect on honeybees’ pollinating activities as well as the local flora.
