How to Speak Bee

Psalm 26:6-7
“I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, 0 LORD: That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.”

One might expect that the ape would turn out to be the best animal communicator. But evolution’s expectations about language, and a link between man and apes, proves to be wrong.

The bee has the most complex and detailed functional language among the animals. Let’s say that a bee has located a particularly good source of nectar and returns to the hive to tell its friends where it is. Our bee dances a figure eight, with the cross points at the center of the eight giving the direction of the nectar in relation to the sun. As the bee dances on the wall of the honeycomb, the position of the sun is always down. If the bee moves up the comb wall at 17 degrees to the left of vertical, it means the honey is 17 degrees to the left of the sun. This communication even works on cloudy days, since bees can see the ultraviolet light that penetrates the clouds. Distance is communicated by the speed of the dance.

Neither man’s languages, nor the bees’ language evolved – they were given by God. Why else would the bee indicate direction relative to the sun in the same way that human beings do? That the bee is the best communicator in the animal world, and not the apes, helps to show that language cannot be explained by evolution.

Prayer:
Dear Father in heaven, I am filled with wonder and rejoicing when I hear about all of the wonderful things You have created and how You have provided for all Your creatures. But never let me forget to rejoice in Your salvation. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes:
Photo: Honeybee landing on milkthistle. Courtesy of Fir0002. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.