Dancing Bees

Deuteronomy 6:5
“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

Bees depend on a good memory of their surroundings to make the thousands of trips necessary to keep their hive in operation. Each day a single bee must make trips to hundreds of flowers, some as far as a mile from the hive. Scientists have long wondered how the tiny bee can remember what may be dozens of square miles of territory.

When a bee finds a good source of nectar, she returns to the hive and does a dance for the other bees. This dance tells them where a new find is located. Researchers have studied this in detail and can now interpret these dances.

Researchers from Princeton University tricked a bee into dancing out a location that turned out to be in the middle of a nearby lake. After receiving the message, the other members of the hive simply ignored their fellow worker. She kept dancing, but no one would believe her. Only later, when the dance clearly said that the flowers were on the opposite side of the lake, did the other bees pay attention and check out the flowers.

Researchers are now wondering whether bees keep a mental map of their surroundings. How else could they tell when someone gives them a false location? Evolutionary researchers are trying to figure out how such an “evolutionarily simple” creature as the bee could be so intelligent. However, the Bible makes clear that intelligence is not related to evolution. It is the gift of an all-wise Creator.

Prayer: I thank You, dear Father, for the intellect You have given me. Help me to develop it to Your glory and service. Help me to remember that my intellectual development can never take place apart from Your Word. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Author: Paul A. Bartz

Ref: Horton, Elizabeth. 1983. “Bees as mapmakers.” Science Digest, Sept. p. 90 Photo: Honey bee wiggle dance – Emmanuel Boutet CCBy SA 2.5.

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