Bill Truesdell wrote:
>
>There is no effect. That is what is implied.
>
>I am not sure what you are implying but I assume that it is we should not
>think all is OK when all is OK because it may not be.  This is philosophy,
>not science. And pardon the double negative.
>
>The issue of bees and power lines has come up often in this group and each
>time the observation is that the lines themselves are not a problem.  Power
>company spraying, bears, vandals and other things are.  And each time it
>comes up, there is an assumption that it must be bad for the bees.
> ...
> what is the difference between a big Geiger counter and a
>little one?  My guess is one measures big cosmic waves and the other little
>cosmic waves.


and, by contrast, he later wrote:

>
>If the effect was negligible but measurable by close inspection, it would
>explain why general observation show no effect. A loss of 10% will not be
>noticible by general observation but would if scientifically measured.
>
>Given that, there still may be a difference between the Russian and US
>power lines - manufacture, configuration, spacing, etc..
>Also, what might be causing the decrease is interesting, since the fix
>seems to be to cool the hives when directly under the power lines.


        I believe any careful reader would notice the big difference
between that first burst, which I did not dignify by any response at the
time, and the more recent statement.


        May I try to summarise this discussion?

1  Some have suggested there may be effects on bees from high-voltage 50Hz
or 60Hz power lines.  By & large, the suggestions have been of harm, but
benefit is also conceivable.

2  Other influences tend to confound studies of this question  -
herbicides sprayed on power-line rights-of-way, bears rampaging along the
resulting clearways, etc.

3  A change of economic significance to beekeepers could well go unnoticed
in this context of confounding variables.  In other words, a decrease  -
or an increase   -  of, say, 10% in honey production (or in other parameter
of bee performance) may have been occurring but we wouldn't know until
careful measurements have been made.

4  The effect(s), if any, may not be monotonic with distance.  Power lines
may cause shielding from cosmic rays at some distances, and a concentration
of them at other distances.  Some British physicists have published
measurements of just such a complexity.

5  No clear evidence of power-line effects on bees has been produced to
this list.

6  Absene of evidence does  NOT  equal proof that there is no effect.  To
assert, in a polemical utterance, "all is OK " is unjustified.  There is
considerable scope for effects on bees from influences which have not been
scientifically studied.  We do *not* know all is OK, especially where we've
not been carefully looking.

7  Some people, some of the time, tend to confuse the man with the ball.
One crucial aspect of the scientific method is to discuss the idea, not to
cast aspersions on the person(s) who put forward the idea.

 Let us play the ball, not its carrier.


R



-
Robt Mann
Mulgoon Professor emeritus of Environmental Studies, U of Auckland
consultant stirrer & motorcyclist
P O Box 28878, Remuera, Auckland 1005, New Zealand  (9) 524 2949