THE COMB: A MARVEL OF ENGINEERING

[God is the] Lord of the heavens and the Earth and everything between them, the Almighty, the Endlessly Forgiving. (Surah Sâd: 66)

One of the most amazing distinctions about bees is the hexagonal comb cells they make. Watching a large group of bees building honeycombs, one assumes that the end result must be total confusion. There seems little chance that these insects, which all seem to be acting independently of one another, could ever produce such imposing structures. Contrary to appearances, however, bees work together in building the comb, in total harmony and in an exceedingly ordered manner. In fact, although they start from different points, they all build cells of exactly the same size. The joins where they meet in the middle are invisible, and there is never any error in the angles of their hexagons.

Bees build combs only when there is a need in the hive. They build these for shelter, storing food and raising larvae, and every aspect of the combs is regulated. Each is double-sided, for instance, with cells sharing a common base; and each comb face can have hundreds or even thousands of cells, produced in an ordered manner to be filled with honey, pollen and eggs.

The top of the comb down to the middle is filled with honey. Pollen is stored underneath these, with eggs at the very bottom. The honey stores also continue at the sides of the hive. However, the workers always store a few rows of pollen between the larval chambers and those used for honey.120 This prevents the three contents-honey, larvae and pollen from becoming mixed up in the near-total darkness of the hive. Honey and larvae being kept separate is very definitely most of all to humans' benefit, otherwise bee-keepers would face an irresoluble problem: Seeking to separate one part of the honeycomb in their efforts to extract the honey would inevitably harm the new members of the colony. The presence of larvae in the honey would also make it far less palatable.

Again, conscious behavior permits this separation. In appearance, there is no difference among the cells in the comb for larvae, pollen and honey-they are all identical. But despite this resemblance, as we have already seen, the queen never makes the mistake of laying her eggs in empty cells intended for honey or pollen, but always lays them in the right place. No doubt that this is a discriminating ability given her by God.

What Do Evolutionists Think about the Construction of the Combs?

The cells of the comb are filled with honey, pollen and eggs in a specific order. From the top to the middle: honey. The middle part: pollen. The bottom: the larval chambers. The cells for the new queens are built at the very bottom.

Like all other living things, honeybees have their own unique forms of behavior that are full of questions for evolutionists. They have no answer to a great many questions, such as the combs made by honeybees and the communication among bees, simply because it is impossible to account for bees' social lives and attributes in terms of evolutionary mechanisms.

In a number of statements, Charles Darwin admitted that he found it difficult to explain the behavior of bees and ants, known as "social insects" because of the way they live in colonies, in terms of the mechanisms of his theory. In one question he asks in The Origin of Species, Darwin emphasizes the inconsistency of the theory he originated with regard to instincts:

Can instincts be acquired and modified through natural selection? What shall we say to the instinct which leads the bee to make cells, and which has practically anticipated the discoveries of profound mathematicians? 121

The Comb's General Structure

If one divides a comb down the middle, a most interesting vista opens up. The comb has a partition wall that, like the other parts of the comb, is made from wax and forms a common foundation for the mirror-image cells on both sides. The common floor of the cells is not level, but a series of depressions are made to fit into each other in order to save space. The side walls of each hexagon stand at a slight incline in respect of the partition wall. This incline prevents honey flowing out of filled cells.122

In addition, there is also a hierarchy in the hive, in that the cells for workers are higher up and those for the drone males, which are fewer in number, are lower down. The queen cells are constructed at the very lowest level. All these brood cells are constructed according to need. For example, when the number of males in the hive drops, or at the end of winter (during winter, there are no drones in the hive), the bees start to make the rather larger cells to accommodate the males. In the same way, queen cells are constructed only when a new queen is required in the hive.

In the construction of the combs, there are a great many other important details such as the mathematical calculations required during the production and use of the raw material for the comb-all quite astonishing.

There is a most regular structure in the combs, so that the honey and larvae never become intermingled.

The First Stage in Comb Construction: Wax Production

The wax emerges as plates in the apertures above.

Beeswax is the main building material in the comb. Bees secrete wax from four pairs of glands under their abdomens. Where these glands meet, there are two small apertures. Here the wax is secreted, in small, thin scales. To collect this wax, bees use the hooks made of the small hairs on their hindlegs. They then push the wax forward to their middle legs, then to their forelegs. (Bees have six legs.) Finally, they pick the wax up in their mouths and make it malleable by chewing it.123 As soon as one scale of wax is removed, another immediately emerges behind it.

In the secretion of wax, heat is the most important factor. For that reason, when workers begin to construct the comb, they first come together in a chain resembling a large ball. The 35 degrees centigrade (95oF) temperature necessary for beeswax to become malleable is thus ensured, and thus it becomes a pliable substance suited to construction.

Beeswax is white when first secreted. After pollen and other materials are mixed into it, the color turns yellow and brown. The chemical ingredients of beeswax are as follows:124

Hydrocarbon . . . 14%

Monoesters . . . 35%

Diesters . . . 14%

Hydroxy-polyesters . . . 8%

Free acids . . . 12%

Bees use their wax in a most economical way to build the most honeycomb with the least possible amount of wax. For example, it has been calculated that bees use only 40 grams (1.4 ounce) of wax to make a comb 22.5 by 37 centimeters (8.9 by 14.5 inches) in dimension. Such a comb can hold more than two kilograms (four pounds) of honey.127

How Did Beeswax Come into Existence?

Comb construction depends on the existence of wax. The fact that this substance, ideal for the making of combs, is produced by bees is in itself a proof of creation.

Evolutionists maintain that bees didn't possess this attribute at the time they first came into existence, and that all their attributes and behaviors came into being gradually, as the result of a series of coincidences. It will now be useful to consider the unfounded nature of these claims by asking a number of questions that demand answers.

First of all, how did bees discover the ingredients of beeswax-which consists of a substance completely unknown to them?

How is it that every single bee has been able to employ the same formula for millions of years?

How did bees manage to form the glands and organs necessary to produce such an ideal material as beeswax within their own bodies?

Assume for a moment that bees somehow managed to generate beeswax, the raw material for their combs. But that success has no meaning in isolation, because at the same time, the bee must also possess all the technical knowledge and competence for the construction work it will perform.

Also assume-no matter how impossible this may actually be-that by chance, a bee did come into possession of all these attributes. That is still not enough. The bee in question would also need to teach its knowledge to the other members of the colony, which must form the necessary systems for producing beeswax in their own bodies. Moreover, that bee also has to transmit this information and system of production to subsequent generations.

Producing wax is a rather difficult, laborious process. Honeybees extract it from their wax glands in pieces no larger than a pinhead. The photos show bees making honeycombs.	Above: Honeybees beginning construction work. In order to obtain the necessary temperature for the production of wax, the bees first cling together, raising the temperature. They then shape the wax in their mouths and construct the comb, which consists of perfectly hexagonal cells.

In addition, bees must also know about division of labor that lets them all work together. It is not enough for every bee to possess the knowledge and competence to construct combs; they also need the conscious intelligence with which to establish the requisite organization. Such questions as how bees carry out that organization-and how communication is established among them and how it is that no confusion ever emerges among the tens of thousands of bees in the dark hive-still need to be answered.

All rational people need to employ their conscience and ponder the conditions set out in general terms above. It's of course not possible for an insect like the bee to have come into possession of the necessary attributes for making combs, and using these in the most advantageous manner, entirely by chance. This extraordinary construction ability is compatible neither with the size of the bee, nor with its brain capacity, nor with its reason and consciousness.

Let us consider the bees' abilities by comparing them with man's. Could a person possessing reason and intelligence create a new secretion that would be of benefit, in his own body, of his own will? Could he, for instance, design a new system that allows the saliva glands inside his body to produce glue? Everyone realizes that such a feat is quite out of the question. Is it therefore reasonable to expect a bee to be able to do what human beings cannot?

Neither the bee nor any other living thing on Earth can add new organs to its body at will, nor make them produce entirely new secretions. The physical structures and miraculous abilities in bees clearly prove that they were brought into existence by a Creator. Like all other living things on Earth, bees were created by God, Who manifests peerless examples of His intellect in bees, in order that humans should think about and learn from them. God is All-Powerful. A rational person's responsibility is to listen to his conscience, turn to God, our Creator, in all that he does, and to lead his life in the light of His commands:

Say: "Who provides for you out of heaven and Earth? Who controls hearing and sight? Who brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living? Who directs the whole affair?" They will say, "God." Say, "So will you not guard against evil?" (Surah Yunus: 31)

How are the Dimensions of the Identical Cells Comprising the Comb Established?

If all the trees on Earth were pens and all the sea, with seven more seas besides, was ink, God’s words still would not run dry. God is Almighty, All-Wise. (Surah Luqman: 27

The construction of the comb is a miracle all by itself. The combs consist of identical, exceptionally regular hexagonal cells, and offer yet another indication of the superior intelligence manifested in bees.

Bees begin constructing a comb from the top and work downwards from two or three different spots. The construction of the comb widens out towards both sides and joins to the other two rows. This work is performed in such a harmonious and regular manner, in fact, that it is impossible to tell where the three different parts join together. The pieces of the comb built from separate starting points are so regular that, despite consisting of hundreds of cells and having hundreds of angles, they look like one single structure. No joins can be seen. This reveals that bees do not set about this task randomly, but calculate the distances between their starting and end points beforehand. The width of the cells for honey, pollen and larvae is also standardized at from 5.2 to 5.4 millimeters (0.20 to 0.21 inch). Only the cells for male bees are larger, at 6.2 to 6.4 millimeters (0.24 to 0.25 inch).128

A bee measures the width and thickness of the comb cells thanks to its sensitive receptor hairs (sensilla trichodea), which are concentrated mainly on the mouth and antennae. It has been established that on one single bee's antenna, there are about 8,500 sensilla trichodea and some 500,000 receptor cells.129 Using these hairs, the bee measures the thickness of the cell walls she makes. In making these calculations, she behaves exceedingly carefully. A bee adding wax to a cell constantly pushes the wall, determining its elasticity and thickness according to its movement. As a result of all these processes, a miraculous situation transpires. The thickness of the comb wall built by all the bees is 0.07 millimeters (0.0028 inch), and deviates from this by only 0.002 millimeter (two-thousandths of a millimeter).130

The way the comb cells are joined together is also of great interest. Bees start on the next one even before they have finished building one cell. Construction of new adjoining cells begins lower down while the lateral walls of the first cells are being added. As construction of the comb continues, new bees also become involved in this process. Interestingly, every bee that takes part in subsequent comb building immediately realizes what stage the construction has already reached, and knows where to begin.

After the comb cell has been shaped and brought to its final form, the bees complete the process, hardening the wax with another regurgitated liquid. This leads to the completion of the combs' identical, flawless hexagons. However, the number of cells constructed by bees is very large. For example, in order to store 9.9 kilogram (22 pounds) of honey, bees need to build a comb of 35,000 cells.131

As can be seen from all this information so far, there is a literal perfection in the comb, both during its construction and also in general terms. Even the design of the comb's external edges is quite amazing. Bees use hexagons for the comb's cover, trapezoids for the lateral walls, and equilateral rhombs for the base. They make the comb stronger by putting the base of one cell among the base of the three cells on the opposite side of the comb.

Left: A worker bee manipulating wax and building cells Right: A section from a nearly complete comb and the bees working on it

Bees' Comb-Building is Incomparable

The more scientists studied the world of bees, the more it astonished them. They were amazed by the calculations regarding such geometric shapes as the hexagon, trapezoid and rhomb, and the way that the bees so flawlessly completed such details as to where in the comb these are to be found. Murray Hoyt, author of one of the most important works written on the subject, The World of Bees, sums up the construction of the combs in these terms:

It is completely incredible that, with thousands of bees coming up and adding their bit of wax to the spot where the "drawing out" is going on, you don't get a thousand different variations of shape and thickness. You're led to the conclusion that every one of these thousands of insects in her own right must be a trained engineer.

Each bee adds only a tiny part to a given area of comb. Yet each cell ends up the same size and shape as all the others. From the apparent disorganization and haphazard chaos of work on the combs comes the perfection of uniformity. When you see the work going on it even looks as if each bee constitutes herself an inspection party of one. She looks the work over, gives it a pat here and there and goes on about her business. With thousands of bees doing this, you somehow get that perfect finished product.132

THE PERFECT MEASUREMENTS IN THE COMB The picture above shows a comb made by honeybees out of perfectly hexagonal cells. The illustrations on the next page are three-dimensional computer images of honeycombs. In order to obtain the images of the comb, an expert in the field employed computer programs capable of producing drawings by calculating the various angles. However, bees use no such equipment in making their equally perfect combs. The importance of their success becomes more apparent when we compare the picture and the drawings of the combs. How is it that bees have been able to construct combs of this same perfection for millions of years? Bees have no ability to calculate angles; neither have they any knowledge of geometrical shapes. It is God, Who created the entire universe, Who inspires in bees the knowledge and ability with which they can build their combs.

The above statements are most thought-provoking. It is exceedingly difficult for a human to draw regular geometrical shapes in the absence of such implements as a ruler and set square. It is quite impossible to get the 120-degree internal angles of a hexagon right, as bees manage to do-in near-total darkness.

Moreover, the shapes we draw on paper are two-dimensional. Yet bees produce three-dimensional hexagonal prisms. They perform very delicate calculations during the construction of these three-dimensional prisms, as regards the walls' thickness and elasticity. In addition, since the comb has two faces, there is a problem of joining the cells on both sides at the bottom. Furthermore, all the cells are built at an incline of 13 degrees in order to keep the honey from flowing out.133 Beyond all this-as we have shown-the comb's structure forms through the bringing together of separate components. In other words, the comb does not start with a single part and grow as that part expands. Parts produced separately by the bees are added on to the extremities. Yet at the same time, no trace remains of the joins between the comb sections produced in different areas. The hexagons at the intersections are not half-formed or of different dimensions, so no problem emerges of cells being of a different height or mutually incompatible. Bees join the cells together so perfectly that it is impossible to identify where they have been joined together.

The three-dimensional drawings above were made by imitating bee combs. As can be seen, no matter from what angle one looks at the combs, they still appear perfect and regular.

Why don't bees start comb construction from a single side only? Were they to do so, construction would take much longer. Since the area under construction would be limited, new bees could join in the work only as new cells were added. Yet when work begins with all the bees starting from several sides, the comb is completed much more quickly, since more bees can engage in the work.

As we have seen, there is an enormous amount of detail in the making of the combs. Clearly, the comb is a special structure, and it is nonsensical to imagine that it could have come into being by chance. Every stage in the life of bees is a manifestation of the infinite might and creative artistry of God.

The drawing above shows the back-to-back structure of the combs and the angles in them. Every single one of the bees making a comb constructs cells by calculating these angles.

Bees' Unbelievable Calculations

To better understand the miraculous nature of what bees do, imagine that you have a number of bricks of exactly the same dimensions. It will be easy enough for you, working together with a friend, to lay these out in a straight line, building from opposite ends at once. There is a likelihood, however, that when you reach the middle, there will be a gap left over, smaller than the size of any single brick. This you can resolve by breaking one of the bricks and filling in the gap.

But assume that you want to do this the way bees do in building their combs-without breaking any bricks, apart from those at the extremities. (Bees only use half-hexagons at the comb edges, because of the hexagon's geometric form.) What will you do then? In other words, you are allowed to break the bricks only at the ends, in the same way that bees do with their hexagons. You have to use the rest of the bricks whole, again in the same way as bees.

In order to do this, you'll need to make some calculations. You cannot succeed if you simply go about the task randomly. Several preliminary steps will be necessary for success, including:

- You have to get a tape measure and measure the length of the line.

- You must then measure the length of one of the bricks.

- You must divide the length of the line by that of one brick. If the length of the line is not an exact multiple of that of the brick, then the result you obtain will not be a whole number.

- That portion of the number following after the decimal point is of the greatest importance, because this will show by how much the two bricks at the end need to be shortened. For example, if this value is 0.25, then the total length of the bricks at the ends must not exceed 0.25. You can make the necessary adjustment according to whatever figure you obtain.

- After shortening the two end bricks according to that figure, you can then lay all the others in place. When you reach the middle, the final brick should fit perfectly-that is, of course, as long as you've done all the calculations correctly!

This analogy shows that for a human, success is possible only by carrying out a number of calculations and using various pieces of measuring equipment.

Let us now consider the calculations performed by bees, which are far more complicated than those in our example of the bricks, and which employ no measuring equipment at all.

Remember that bees do not draw lines on a flat field or line bricks up together, but add equal-sized hexagons to one another. Bees are insects with a 0.74 cubic millimeter brain and weighing between 80 and 100 milligrams (0.00017 and 0.00022 of a pound).134 In addition, they perform calculations of which only human beings are capable, and manage mathematical feats that even we humans would sometimes find difficult, to make equal-sized hexagons. Bees are capable of all these calculations and measurements as they build their honeycombs, which they accomplish by acting in complete harmony together.

The width of the cells which bees make out of wax is always between 5.2 and 5.4 millimeters (0.20 to 0.21 inches). In order to squeeze the cell into a limited space with no problems arising, the width of the semi-hexagonal cells at the extremities is of great importance. If the cells at both (and sometimes also the third) edges are slightly too wide or too narrow, then there will be faulty connections where the parts of the comb are joined at the middle. An important point here needs to be borne in mind: Even if the job is started by making perfect calculations, if one group of bees starts slightly above or below the others, then by the time they reach each other, the rows of cells will be slightly out of line and it will be impossible to join them together. And if the middle group of bees allows their part of the comb to slip slightly to the left or right, then it will be unable to join up properly with those on the left and right.

To return to our earlier brick-laying analogy, if a third person joins in the work when the first two have started laying bricks from the two ends, and if this person also begins laying bricks on the line, then confusion is clearly likely to result. In this case, the location of the first brick laid by that individual needs to be precisely calculated. If it's placed incorrectly, there will be gaps on either side of it.

Yet with bees, no such error ever occurs. Where the parts of the comb join together are never visible. No matter how many bees work on the task, they all work together in the most astonishing harmony, just as if each one were a construction engineer.

Could You Make a Regular Comb Using Just a Pencil?

Perform a simple experiment to examine the task that bees perform with another example. Start drawing hexagons on a piece of paper, trying to bring them all together in the middle of the page. However, you must try to ensure that no gaps are left between the hexagons, and none of the hexagons are irregular. Most importantly, do this without using such equipment as a compass and set square, and without making any calculations. You will find this very difficult, if not impossible. Imagine three or four people starting from different points on the same piece of paper, and you can see how difficult the task really is.

It is impossible for a human being to draw regular hexagons with a pencil and then to join them together without leaving any traces. Yet bees have been doing exactly this, in three dimensions, for millions of years.

If you make a mistake, however, you can always erase it and start again. Yet bees have no such similar opportunity. They make their honeycombs in one go, making no mistakes at all.

As you can see from these examples, it is exceedingly difficult for a bee to make equally perfect hexagons and then join these together to produce the comb. Furthermore, the miracles in the perfect honeycombs that bees have been constructing since they first came into existence do not end here.

Angles in the Honeycomb

In constructing their cells, bees need to bear in mind three separate angles:

- The internal angles of each comb cell.

- The upward angle of the cell from the horizontal.

- The angles of the equilateral rhombs in the cell's base.

Bees construct their cells by perfectly maintaining the necessary 120o internal angles in the hexagons. During construction, another point to which bees pay careful attention is the angle of tilt of the cells. If they were built exactly level to the ground, the honey placed in them would run out. The cells are raised from base to opening at an angle of 13 degrees, thus preventing them being parallel to the ground.135

The third angle that bees employ is the angle that connects the cell bases. This has been a subject of debate among scientists, and it has been the bees who won.

A Victory for Bees over Scientists: Perfect Tilt Calculation

Viewed from above, a comb’s cell can be seen to be made from a combination of three equilateral rhombs.

As you've seen, bees make their combs double-faced. The hexagonal cells are joined to the cells on the other side at the base. Yet the joinings between the two series of comb cells are a particular marvel of engineering.

The first noticeable feature in this design is the three equilateral rhombs at the bottom of the hexagonal cell. Every comb cell is designed in such a way as to be placed at the juncture of the three cells directly on the opposite side of the comb. This mutually interconnected structure gives the honeycomb maximum resilience. Just like riveted steel clamps, the cells that join at the base can be said to be welded to one another.

Scientists examining the honeycomb's flawless structure have been amazed at the mathematical calculations performed in such a way that the bases of three cells form the base of a single cell facing in the opposite direction. This is a design which requires the most complicated mathematical foresight.

Scientists performing this calculation in a way similar to what bees must do revealed the very sensitive angles needed to achieve these qualities. According to a calculation by the well-known mathematician Konig, the angles at the base must be 109 degrees 26 minutes and 70 degrees 34 minutes for the most perfect structure.

What angles do the bees use? Observations have shown that in the construction of the honeycomb, they use two exact angles: 109 degrees 28 minutes and 70 degrees 32 minutes, and that they never deviate from these. This is quite unbelievable! Bees succeed in resolving a mathematical calculation beyond the reach of all but an expert.

When three comb cells, whose bases consist of equilateral rhombs, are joined together, the base of a cell on the opposite side emerges. In this way, the two faces of the comb are locked together, constituting one single, solid structure. The angles of these rhombs made by the bees are literally perfect and flawless.

However, the calculation performed by bees exhibits a deviation of 1/30th of a degree. (One degree consists of 60 minutes. The 2-minute difference in the angle in the comb corresponds to 1/30th of a degree). In other words, bees include a margin of error in their combs, even if this is so small as to be insignificant.

Indeed, on account of this error of 1/30th of a degree, scientists once thought that bees were unable to achieve a perfect result and only approached the exact angle, allowing themselves a margin of error. But the fact is, bees actually make no error at all!

The famous Scottish mathematician Colin Maclaurin (1698-1746) repeated the same calculation, and when he announced his result, it stunned the world of science. Maclaurin had revealed that the angle employed by bees was totally exact, and that Konig and his team who had carried out the first study of the honeycomb had arrived at a faulty result, due to an error in the logarithmic tables they had used.

In short, it was realized that there is not the slightest error in the honeycombs.136 The so-called 1/30th of a degree error was made by scientists, not by bees.

WHAT DID CHARLES DARWIN SAY ABOUT THE HONEYBEE? Darwin was stung into silence by these little creatures, asking, “What shall we say concerning the honeybee...?” That bees make their cells in perfect hexagonal forms, sparrows build their nests with straw (left), beavers build dams (right), and rabbits dig burrows in the ground, are all proofs of God’s creation of separate species. Such animals behaviors are signs of the existence of God, Who created the universe and all life forms flawlessly. G. Mansfield, “Creation or Change? God’s purpose with mankind proved by the wonder of the universe,” Logos Publications

Why the Hexagon?

As we have seen, honeycombs are based on calculations so delicate that most human beings cannot manage them, and that these features make them architectural marvels that amaze scientists.

Scientists researching the structure of the honeycomb carried out detailed studies on the question of why bees did not construct them randomly, or else in an octagonal, pentagonal or triangular form rather than the hexagonal.

Karl von Frisch, author of the book Animal Architecture and one of the world's most respected authorities on bees, answers this question in these terms:

If the cells were round or, say octagonal or pentagonal, there would be empty spaces between them. This would not only mean a poor utilization of space; it would also compel the bees to build separate walls for all or part of each cell, and entail a great waste of material. These difficulties are avoided by the use of triangles, squares, and hexagons. Provided their depth was the same, such cells would therefore hold the same volume. But of the three geometrical figures equal in area, the hexagonal has the smallest circumference. This means, of course, that the amount of building material required for cells of the same capacity is the least in the hexagonal construction, and hence that such a pattern is the most economical design for warehouses. 137

When hexagonal cells and cells in other geometric shapes are compared, it appears the hexagonal cells have an obvious advantage in terms of utilization of area per unit volume. The hexagon can store the largest volume with the least amount of construction material.

In the above extract, von Frisch openly answers the question "Why the hexagon?" Yet the question which really needs answering is how bees discovered it. Common sense is enough to deduce that this flawless structure could not have been developed by bees during any imaginary process of evolution. Constructing a scenario in which the bee one day constructed a pentagonal cell, then tried a triangular one on a following day, continuing in this vein for some time, before deciding years-or hundreds of years-later, that the hexagon was the most ideal form, is quite nonsensical. To claim such a thing is to suggest that bees possess as much reason and consciousness as human beings. Neither reason nor conscience permit such a claim to be believed.

Bees were created by God. They underwent no evolutionary process. They never underwent any change. The moment they were first created, they had exactly the same features as they possess now.

Conclusion

As we have seen throughout this book, most of the tasks performed by bees are quite astonishing to human beings. During their brief life spans of only a few weeks, bees perform all the jobs in the hive in a specific order. From caring for the young to construction, from food gathering to honey production, they succeed at every one.

The bee's nervous system, which enables all these jobs, consists of around 7,000 neurons. A human being has some 2 million times that number.138 Yet as we have seen in some considerable detail, bees are able to carry out all these tasks to perfection:

Praise be to God, to Whom everything in the heavens and everything in the earth belongs, and praise be to Him in the Hereafter. He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware. (Surah Saba’: 1)

-They perform a series of complicated tasks in the hive, such as feeding the larvae, cleaning, air conditioning, maintenance and repair.

-They are able to distinguish between friendly and hostile bees.

-They are able to give directions according to the angle of the Sun.

-They are able to perceive ultraviolet rays.

-They are able to calculate the weight of the pollen they are carrying.

-They are able to carry out in-flight corrections to their course by looking at the brightness of the sky and landmarks and perceiving odors along their route.

-They are able to calculate the distance they have covered in flight.

-They can measure the frequency of the movements in the dance performed in the hive and thus calculate the distance of the food source.

-Even though the dance takes place in a vertical plane, they are able to accurately calculate the angle between the Sun and the food source.

-They are able to build exceptionally regular hexagonal comb cells.

However, regarding these creatures which are capable of performing all these tasks, it will be useful to emphasize one particular point: The total number of nerve cells in the bee brain is a great smaller than the number of nerve cells that a human being uses to speak the Latin name for honeybee, Apis mellifica.139 A bee's brain is just 0.74 cubic millimeters in size.140 Furthermore, despite her larger body, the brain of the queen bee-the most crucial individual in the whole hive-is even smaller: just 0.71 cubic millimeters. The conclusion that emerges from all these statistics is that the sophisticated work done by bees has no correlation with the size of their brains. All of these flawless attributes have been given to them.

Who gave bees all these extraordinary characteristics? How did these creatures, which can perform calculations impossible for human beings and have been equipped with so many features, come into existence? How is it that as soon as these insects emerge from their cocoons, they are able to perform such unbelievable tasks, without the benefit of any special training? How are these unthinking creatures able to establish such an organizational structure? Moreover, how is it that they all fulfill their duties within such a communal order? The organization among them is so perfect that it can only be the work of a superior intelligence.

As we consider all these questions, one truth emerges: It is Almighty God Who gave bees all these astonishing characteristics. As He does in all the living things He has created, in bees God reveals His infinite wisdom and incomparable creation. A person who witnesses this creation must praise God, the Lord of all, and submit to Him.

. . . There is no creature He does not hold by the forelock. My Lord is on a Straight Path. (Surah Hud: 56)