Page 56 - The Miracle of the Honeybee

54 THE MIRACLE OF THE HONEYBEE

suffers any damage, either through an enemy attack or as the result of fire,
adults no longer engaged in making wax may start to do so in order to re-
pair the damage. Similarly, if the possibility of a problem in feeding the
larvae arises, there may be others whose hypopharyngeal glands come
back into operation to aid the nurse bees. When the honey stock is insuffi-
cient, a greater number of bees may forage out to collect nectar, or if the
hive urgently needs to be cooled down, then the other bees stop whatever
they are doing and immediately start ventilating with their wings. If the
hive comes under a major attack, most of the bees join in its defense, and
hundreds of workers congregate at the entrance to the hive to repulse the
assault together. 36
In short, every bee in the hive knows what sorts of needs may arise,
and thus how and where they need to act. As we have seen so far, there is
a “group consciousness” prevailing in everything bees do, allowing them
to fulfill their responsibilities in a most successful manner.
Considering all this information, a most important conclusion
emerges. To maintain that bees acquired all their behavioral and physical
characteristics either of their own will or else by chance conflicts with rea-
son, logic and science. Details such as the fact that all bees of the same age
behave in a similar way, and that the order within the beehive has per-
sisted unchanged ever since the appearance
of the first bees, are clear indications that
He to Whom the
these insects are directed by an intelligence.
kingdom of the heav-
All the knowledge they possess is given
ens and the earth be-
them by an Entity possessed of intelligence.
longs. He does not
It is God, with His infinite knowledge, Who
have a son and He
inspires in bees what they need to do and
what tasks they will undertake at different has no partner in the
times. God creates everything within a spe- Kingdom. He created
cific order: everything and deter-
He is God—the Creator, the Maker, the mined it most exactly.
Giver of Form. To Him belong the Most (Surat al-Furqan: 2)
Beautiful Names. Everything in the