Page 17 - The Miracle of the Honeybee

Harun Yahya 15

or each one’s nutritional needs.
This is most astonishing, because in the hive is a very large number of
larvae of different sizes, from eggs laid by the queen at different times. The
workers adopt a feeding program for the young bees during the larva
stage, based on how many days old they are. Nevertheless, the nurse bees
experience no problems with their feeding of the larvae.
The larvae within the hive continue growing in specially prepared
combs, and on the seventh day, a surprising phenomenon transpires. Each
larva stops eating, and worker bees seal the entrance to its cell with a
4
lightly domed wax cover. At this point the larva imprisons itself here by
spinning around itself a papery cocoon from a substance it generates it-
self. 5
The bee larvae thus move on to their pupal
stage. Before we examine the details further,
one particular point requires special atten-
tion—the nature of the substance from which
they weave their cocoon, produced by the two
silk glands on the larva’s head.

Bee larvae, resembling mag-
gots, hatch after three days
from eggs laid by the queen.

Within 6 days, bee
larvae reach 1,500
times their body weight
and are barely able to
fit into the cells. (Left)
After that, growth stops
and their pupal stage
begins. (Right)

Adnan Oktar