Bombarding beehives on the danger of colony collapse with electron pulses from particle accelerators may help save the bee colonies, Symmetry Magazine reports. Here’s how the unlikely use for atom-smashers works, according to the magazine:
For example, at Iotron Industries, which operates facilities in the United States and Canada, beehives are irradiated in the same way as food products, medical devices and agricultural-based products. Items—including bee-free hives—are placed on a long conveyor belt that passes under an 18-foot-long, 50-kilowatt, 10-million-electron-volt linear accelerator. Electron pulses each 200 microseconds long kill any organisms in the hives by disrupting their DNA with no residual chemicals or hazardous materials generated by the process. The slower the conveyor belt moves, the higher the dose of electrons.
Symmetry quotes a scientist who says that the practice is “reasonably common” now but could become more prevalent in the future as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) worsens in the U.S. In 2011 alone, 80 percent of American beekeepers lost some colonies to the malady, the causes of which are disputed.
