Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure of Western Honey Bees

Sci Rep. 2020 Jan 16;10(1):461. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-56948-0.

Abstract

Radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) can be absorbed in all living organisms, including Western Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera). This is an ecologically and economically important global insect species that is continuously exposed to environmental RF-EMFs. This exposure is studied numerically and experimentally in this manuscript. To this aim, numerical simulations using honey bee models, obtained using micro-CT scanning, were implemented to determine RF absorbed power as a function of frequency in the 0.6 to 120 GHz range. Five different models of honey bees were obtained and simulated: two workers, a drone, a larva, and a queen. The simulations were combined with in-situ measurements of environmental RF-EMF exposure near beehives in Belgium in order to estimate realistic exposure and absorbed power values for honey bees. Our analysis shows that a relatively small shift of 10% of environmental incident power density from frequencies below 3 GHz to higher frequencies will lead to a relative increase in absorbed power of a factor higher than 3.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Absorption, Radiation
  • Animals
  • Bees / radiation effects*
  • Electromagnetic Fields / adverse effects*
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Radiation Exposure / adverse effects*
  • Radio Waves / adverse effects*