Page 100 - The Miracle of the Honeybee

98 THE MIRACLE OF THE HONEYBEE

The Directions Given by Bees are Totally Accurate

As stated earlier, shortly after watching the dancing bee, other workers
leave the hive and head off for the target. However, bees also face an im-
portant problem: The angle that the dancer gave to her sisters is based on
the Sun. Yet the Sun is not fixed in the sky, but changes position by 1 de-
gree every 4 minutes. If a bee followed the original line, it would never be
able to locate its target, due to the shift in the Sun’s position. Every 4 min-
utes will bring a margin of error of 1 degree, which will reach uncor-
rectable dimensions over a long journey.
This presents no problem over short distances, say over 200 meters (650
feet). A bee flies at an average of 13 kilometers (8 miles) an hour, traveling
216 meters, or 708 feet a minute. 82
But what if the target is more than 4 minutes away?
As already said, bees can collect food from an area 10-kilometers (6.2
miles) wide. They must fly for about 45 minutes to cover 10 kilometers. 83
During that time, however, the Sun will move some 11 degrees. If the bee
follows the direction given by the original dancing bee, then it will be de-
flected from the food source as the Sun
changes position. In returning to the hive, a
bee that has traveled a distance of 10 kilome- He to Whom the
ters bears in mind the position of the food kingdom of the
source in relation to that of the Sun. heavens and the
Moreover, since this bee is carrying food, it
earth belongs. He
must travel more slowly, at 9
does not have a son
kilometers/hour (5.6 miles/hour). 84 That
and He has no part-
means that during the bee’s return, the Sun
ner in the Kingdom.
will have moved 16.5 degrees. Therefore, the
He created every-
bee’s directions relative to the Sun may pos-
thing and deter-
sibly be wrong. Add the 16.5-degree discrep-
mined it most
ancy of the bee performing the dance to the
exactly. (Surat al-
11-degree margin of error of the bee setting
Furqan: 2)
out, and the bee may end up 27.5 degrees
away from the food source.