Mobile phone towers a threat to honey bees 手機基地台威脅到蜜蜂

◎陳成良

The electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phone towers and cellphones can pose a threat to honey bees, a study published in India has concluded.

行動電話基地台及行動電話發射的電磁波，足以對蜜蜂構成威脅，印度一項研究的結論指出。

An experiment conducted in the southern state of Kerala found that a sudden fall in the bee population was caused by towers installed across the state by cellphone companies to increase their network.

在印度南部喀拉拉省進行的實驗發現，當地蜜蜂數量突然減少，是行動電話公司為擴大網路在該省各地設立基地台造成的。

The electromagnetic waves emitted by the towers crippled the "navigational skills" of the worker bees that go out to collect nectar from flowers to sustain bee colonies, said Dr. Sainuddin Pattazhy, who conducted the study.

進行這項研究的巴塔奇博士說，基地台的電磁波破壞工蜂的「導航能力」。工蜂負責外出採花蜜來維繫蜂群生存。

He found that when a cell phone was kept near a beehive, the worker bees were unable to return, leaving the hives with only the queens and eggs and resulting in the collapse of the colony within ten days.

他發現，手機置於蜂巢附近，工蜂就無法返回，蜂窩內只剩下女王蜂和卵，並導致蜂群10天內瓦解。

Over 100,000 people in Kerala are engaged in apiculture and the dwindling worker bee population poses a threat to their livelihood. The bees also play a vital role in pollinating flowers to sustain vegetation.

喀拉拉省養蜂人口超過10萬，工蜂數量減少已威脅他們生計。蜜蜂也扮演傳播花粉以維持植物生長的關鍵角色。

If towers and mobile phones further increase, honey bees might be wiped out in 10 years, Pattazhy said.

如果基地台和手機繼續增加，蜜蜂可能在10年內絕跡，巴塔奇說。

新聞辭典

dwindling：形容詞，正在減少的；動詞原形為dwindle，減少。Taiwan’s population is expected to dwindle after 2050. （台灣的總人口預計在2050年後開始減少。）

pollinate： 動詞，給…授粉 。例句： The bees pollinate the crops and help them to grow. （蜜蜂為作物授粉，助其生長。）

wipe out：片語，徹底摧毀、消滅。例句：Pesticides can also wipe out insects that amphibians rely on for food.（殺蟲劑也可能會消滅兩棲動物賴以維生的昆蟲。）