Page 382 - Atlas of Creation Volume 4

Bee (Hymenopteran)

Period: Eocene

Age: 50 million years

Region: Poland

This 50-million-year-old fossil bee, which can be seen down to the finest detail under a mic-
roscope, possesses the same perfect characteristics as bees living today. Its marvelous com-

pound eyes have also been preserved in full detail in the amber.

Bees have very specialized eyes. They contain special sections known as “ommatidia,” 6,900
of which perform separate sight functions. Each one of these acts like a single eye. These are
arranged rather like drinking straws in a box. In addition, each one ends in a small convex
and transparent lens. (Mark L. Winston, The Biology of the Honey Bee, Harvard Univ. Press, 1991,

p. 1) These lenses form the outer surface of the eye, rather like a glass ellipse. The bee eye is
superior to the human eye in two ways: the bee eye can distinguish ultraviolet rays and it is
highly sensitive to polarized light.
Bees, with their glorious eyes that
have remained unchanged for mil-
lions of years, refute evolution.
(Encyc. Americana, 1993, USA, Vol.3,

Int. Headquarters, Danbury, Connec-
ticut, p. 439)

380 Atlas of Creation Vol. 4