Page 96 - The Miracle of the Honeybee

94 THE MIRACLE OF THE HONEYBEE

eventually be taken relative to the sun) into a direction relative to gravity in-
side the hive and the other bees retranslate this back into instructions relative
to the sun when they get outside. So if the food is to be found by flying direct-
ly into the sun, the dancer will dance so that she does the straight “waggle”
run precisely vertically on the comb, whereas if the food is to be found by fly-
ing at an angle of 40 degrees to the west of the sun, she waggles 40 degrees to
the left of straight vertical. She thus substitutes angle with respect to vertical
for angle with respect to the sun and conveys, in the darkness of the hive, in-
formation to her companions as to the direction they should fly when they get
out into the sunlight. 79

Consider: Bees fully understand the directions, even those are given in
the dark and in a different plane, and always head straight towards their
target. The movements made with respect to a vertical line established by
the dancing bee are fully understood by the others, which are capable of
calculating angles.
In light of this, Dawkins expresses her thoughts in these terms:
The fact that they do this [calculating angles] correctly shows that bees do in-
deed convey information to each other. 80

In short, all honeybees are able to calculate angles. Dawkins interprets
this as bees conveying information to each other. However, there are im-
portant questions that require an answer. How did bees discover this
method of calculation? Is it possible for the bee, simply by looking at the
Sun, to distinguish between vertical and horizontal, to add the angle to the
direction it gives, and always to do so accurately? How did other bees
gain the ability to interpret this? How did they first learn to use the Sun as
a reference?
Obviously, bees cannot calculate planes and angles and other such
mathematical functions on their own. There is only one explanation for all
these complex abilities in bees. Bees are directed by a superior power,

which belongs to God, Ruler of all the universe, Who gives bees all their
sophisticated attributes.