The Honey Bee
It is well known by almost everyone that honey is a fundamental food source for the human body, whereas only a few people are aware of the extraordinary qualities of its producer, the honeybee.
As we know, the food source of bees is nectar, which is not found during winter. For this reason, they combine the nectar collected in summer time with special secretions of their body, produce a new nutrient – honey – and store it for the coming winter months.
It is noteworthy that the amount of honey stored by bees is much greater than their actual need. The first question that comes to mind is why do the bees not give up this “excess production”, which seems a waste of time and energy for them? The answer to this question is hidden in the “inspiration” stated in the verse to have been given the bee.
Bees produce honey not only for themselves but also for human beings. Bees, like many other natural beings, are also dedicated to the service of man, just as the chicken lays at least one egg a day although it does not need it, and the cow produces much more milk than its offspring needs.
And He has made everything in the heavens and everything in the earth subservient to you. It is all from Him. There are certainly signs in that for people who reflect.
(Surat al-Jathiyah: 13)
EXCELLENT organization IN THE HIVE
The bees’ lives in the hive and their honey production are fascinating. Without going into too much detail, let us discover the basic features of the “social life” of bees. Bees must carry out numerous “tasks” and they manage all of them with excellent organization.
Regulation of humidity and ventilation: The humidity of the hive, which gives honey its highly protective quality, must be kept within certain limits. If humidity is over or under those limits, then the honey is spoiled and loses its protective and nutritious qualities. Similarly, the temperature in the hive has to be 32° C throughout 10 months of the year. In order to keep the temperature and humidity of the hive within certain limits, a special group takes charge of “ventilation”.
On a hot day, bees can easily be observed ventilating the hive. The entrance of the hive fills with bees and clamping themselves to the wooden structure, they fan the hive with their wings. In a standard hive, air entering from one side is forced to leave from the other side. Extra ventilator bees work within the hive to push the air to all corners of the hive.
This ventilation system is also useful in protecting the hive from smoke and air pollution.
Health system: The efforts of the bees to preserve the quality of honey are not limited to the regulation of humidity and heat. A perfect healthcare system exists within the hive to keep all events that may result in the production of bacteria under control. The main purpose of this system is to remove all substances likely to cause bacteria production. The basic principle of this health system is to prevent foreign substances from entering the hive. To secure this, two guardians are always kept at the entrance of the hive. If a foreign substance or insect enters the hive despite this precaution, all bees act to remove it from the hive.
How do bees know that this substance is an ideal substance for embalming? How do bees produce a substance, which man can only produce in laboratory conditions and with the use of technology if he has a certain level of knowledge of chemistry? How do they know that a dead insect causes bacteria production and that embalming will prevent this?
For bigger foreign objects that cannot be removed from the hive, another protection mechanism is used. Bees “embalm” these foreign objects. They produce a substance called “propolis (bee resin)” with which they carry out the “embalming” process. Produced by adding special secretions to the resins they collect from trees like pine, poplar and acacia, the bee resin is also used to patch cracks in the hive. After being applied to the cracks by the bees, the resin dries as it reacts with air and forms a hard surface. Thus, it can stand against all kinds of external threats. Bees use this substance in most of their work.
At this point, many questions spring to mind. Propolis has the feature of not allowing any bacteria to live in it. This makes propolis an ideal substance for embalming.
And in your creation and all the creatures He has scattered about there are signs for people with certainty.
(Surat al-Jathiyah: 4)
It is evident that the bee has neither any knowledge on this subject, nor a laboratory in its body.
The bee is only an insect 1-2 cm in size and it only does that with which its Lord has inspired it.
MAXIMUM STORAGE WITH MINIMUM MATERIAL
Bees construct hives in which 30,000 bees can live and work together by shaping small portions of beeswax.
The hive is made up of beeswax-walled honeycombs, which have hundreds of tiny cells on each of their faces. All honeycomb cells are exactly the same size. This engineering miracle is achieved by the collective work of thousands of bees. Bees use these cells for food storage and the maintenance of young bees.
Bees have been using the hexagonal structure for the construction of honeycombs for millions of years. (A bee fossil has been found dating from 100 million years ago). It is astonishing that they have chosen a hexagonal structure rather than an octagonal, or pentagonal. Mathematicians give the reason: “the hexagonal structure is the most suitable geometric form for the maximum use of unit area.” If honeycomb cells were constructed in another form, then there would be areas left unused; thus, less honey would be stored, and fewer bees would be able to benefit from it.
As long as their depths are the same, a triangular or quadrangular cell would hold the same amount of honey as a hexagonal cell. However, among all these geometric forms, the hexagonal has the shortest circumference. Whilst they have the same volume, the amount of wax required for hexagonal cells is less than the amount of wax required for a triangular or quadrangular one.
The conclusion: hexagonal cells require minimal amounts of wax in terms of construction while they store maximal amounts of honey. Bees themselves surely cannot have calculated this result, obtained by man after many complex geometrical calculations. These tiny animals use the hexagonal form innately, just because they are taught and “inspired” so by their Lord.
The hexagonal design of cells is practical in many respects. Cells fit to one another and they share each other’s walls. This, again, ensures maximum storage with minimum wax. Although the walls of the cells are rather thin, they are strong enough to carry a few times their own weight.
As well as in the walls of the sides of the cells, bees also take the maximum saving principle into consideration while they construct the bottom edges.
Combs are built as a slice with two rows lying back to back. In this case, the problem of the junction point of two cells occurs. Constructing the bottom surfaces of cells by combining three equilateral quadrangles solves this problem. When three cells are built on one face of the comb, the bottom surface of one cell on the other face is automatically constructed.
As the bottom surface is composed of equilateral quadrangular wax plaques, a downward deepening is observed at the bottom of those cells made by this method. This means an increase in the volume of the cell and, thus, in the amount of honey stored.
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF HONEY COMB CELLS
Another point that bees consider during the construction of the honeycomb is the inclination of cells. By raising cells 13o on both sides, they prevent the cells from being parallel to the ground. Thus, honey does not leak out from the mouth of the cell.
While working, worker bees hang onto each other in circles and congregate together in bunches. By doing this, they provide the necessary temperature for wax production. Little sacks in their abdomens produce a transparent liquid, which leaks out and hardens the thin wax layers. Bees collect the wax with the little hooks on their legs. They put this wax into their mouths, and chew and process it until it softens enough and so give it shape in the cells. Many bees work together to ensure the required temperature for the work place in order to keep the wax soft and malleable.
There is another interesting point to note: the construction of the honeycomb starts from the upper side of the hive and continues simultaneously in two or three separate rows downward. While a honeycomb slice expands in two opposite ections, first the bottom of its two rows join. This process is realized in an astonishing harmony and order. Therefore, it is never possible to understand that the honeycomb actually consists of three separate parts. The honeycomb slices, which started simultaneously from different ections, are so perfectly arranged that, although there are hundreds of different angles in its structure, it seems like one uniform piece.
For such a construction, bees need to calculate the distances between the starting and connection points in advance and then design the dimensions of the cells accordingly. How can such a delicate calculation be done by thousands of bees? This has always impressed scientists.
It is obviously irrational to assume that bees have solved this task, which man can hardly manage. There is such a delicate and detailed organization involved that it is impossible for them to carry it out on their own.
So how do they achieve this? An evolutionist would explain that this event has been achieved by “instinct”. However, what is the “instinct” that can address thousands of bees at the same time and make them perform a collective task? It would not be sufficient even if each bee acted on its own “instinct”, since what they do would necessarily have to be in concordance with each other’s instincts in order to achieve this astonishing result. Due to this, they must be ected by an “instinct” coming from a unique source. Bees, who start constructing the hive from different corners and then combine their separate tasks without leaving any gaps and having all the cells constructed equally in a perfect hexagonal structure, must certainly be receiving “instinctive” messages from the very same source!…
The term “instinct” used above is “only a name” as mentioned in the Qur’an, in the 40th verse of Surah Yusuf. It is of no use insisting on such “mere names” in order to conceal clear truths. Bees are guided from a unique source and thus they successfully come to perform tasks which they otherwise would not be able to. It is not instinct, a term with no definition, that guides bees but the “inspiration” mentioned in Surat an-Nahl. What these tiny animals do is implement the programme that Allah has particularly set for them.
HOW THEY DETERMINE THEIR ECTION
Bees usually have to fly long distances and scan large areas to find food. They collect flower pollens and the constituents of honey within a range of 800m of the hive. A bee, which finds flowers, flies back to its hive to let others know about their place, but how will this bee describe the location of the flowers to the other bees in the hive?
By dancing!… The bee returning to the hive starts to perform a dance. This dance is a means of expression, which it uses to tell the other bees the location of the flowers. This dance, repeated many times by the bee, includes all the information about the inclination, ection, distance and other details of the food source that enable other bees to reach it.
This dance is actually a figure “8″ constantly repeated by the bee (see picture above). The bee forms the middle part of the figure “8″ by wagging its tail and performing zigzags. The angle between the zigzags and the line between the sun and the hive gives the exact ection of the food source (see picture above).
However, knowing only the ection of the food source is not enough. Worker bees also need to “know” how far they have to travel to collect the ingredients for the honey, so, the bee returning from the flower source, “tells” the other bees the distance of the flower pollens by means of certain body movements. It does this by wagging the bottom part of its body and creating air currents. For example, in order to “describe” a distance of 250m, it wags the bottom part of its body 5 times in half a minute. This way, the exact location of the source is made clear in detail, both with respect to its distance and its orientation.
A new problem awaits the bee in those flights where the round trip to the food source takes a long time. As the bee, who can only describe the food source according to the ection of the sun, goes back to its hive, the sun moves 1 degree every 4 minutes. Eventually, the bee will make an error of 1 degree for each four minutes it spends on the way about the ection of the food source of which it informs the other bees.
Astonishingly, the bee does not have such a problem! The bee’s eye is formed of hundreds of tiny hexagonal lenses. Each lens focuses on a very narrow area just like a telescope does. A bee looking towards the sun at a certain time of the day can always find its location while it flies. The bee is reckoned to do this calculation by making use of the change in the light emitted by the sun depending on the time of the day. Consequently, the bee determines the ection of the target location without mistake by making corrections in the information it gives in the hive as the sun moves forward.
METHOD OF MARKING FLOWERS
When a flower has already been visited, the honeybee can understand that another bee has earlier consumed the nectar of that flower, and leave the flower immediately. This way, it saves both time and energy. Well, how does the bee understand, without checking the flower, that the nectar has earlier been consumed?
This is made possible because the bees which visited the flower earlier marked it by leaving a drop on it with a special scent. Whenever a new bee looks in on the same flower, it smells the scent and understands that the flower is of no use and so goes on ectly towards another flower. Thus, bees do not waste time on the same flower.
THE MIRACLE OF HONEY
Do you know how important a food source the honey is, which Allah offers man by means of a tiny insect?
Honey is composed of sugars like glucose and fructose and minerals like magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium chlorine, sulphur, iron and phosphate. It contains vitamins B1, B2, C, B6, B5 and B3 all of which change according to the qualities of the nectar and pollen. Besides the above, copper, iodine, and zinc exist in it in small quantities. Several kinds of hormones are also present in it.
From their bellies comes a drink of varying colours, containing healing for mankind… (Surat an-Nahl: 69)
We have made them (livestock) tame for them and some they ride and some they eat. And they have other uses in them and milk to drink. So will they not show thanks? (Surah Yasin: 72-73)
As Allah says in the Qur’an, honey is a “healing for men”. This scientific fact was confirmed by scientists who assembled during the World Apiculture Conference held from 20-26 September 1993 in China. During the conference, treatments with honey derivatives were discussed. American scientists in particular said that honey, royal jelly, pollen and propolis (bee resin) cure many diseases. A Romanian doctor stated that he tried honey on cataract patients, and 2002 out of his 2094 patients recovered completely. Polish doctors also informed the conference that bee resin helps to cure many diseases such as hemorrhoids, skin problems, gynecological diseases and many other disorders.
Nowadays, apiculture and bee products have opened a new branch for research in countries advanced in science. Other benefits of honey may be described as below:
Easily digested: Because sugar molecules in honey can convert into other sugars (e.g. fructose to glucose), honey is easily digested by the most sensitive stomachs, despite its high acid content. It helps kidneys and intestines to function better.
Has a low calorie level: Another quality of honey is that, when it is compared with the same amount of sugar, it gives 40% less calories to the body. Although it gives great energy to the body, it does not add weight.
Rapidly diffuses through the blood: When accompanied by mild water, honey diffuses into the bloodstream in 7 minutes. Its free sugar molecules make the brain function better since the brain is the largest consumer of sugar.
Supports blood formation: Honey provides an important part of the energy needed by the body for blood formation. In addition, it helps in cleansing the blood. It has some positive effects in regulating and facilitating blood circulation. It also functions as a protection against capillary problems and arteriosclerosis.
Does not accommodate bacteria: This bactericide (bacteria-killing) property of honey is named “the inhibition effect”. Experiments conducted on honey show that its bactericide properties increase twofold when diluted with water. It is very interesting to note that newly born bees in the colony are nourished with diluted honey by the bees responsible for their supervision – as if they know this feature of the honey.
Royal Jelly: Royal jelly is a substance produced by worker bees inside the beehive. Inside this nutritious substance are sugar, proteins, fats and many vitamins. It is used in problems caused by tissue deficiency or body frailty.
It is obvious that honey, which is produced in much higher amounts than the requirements of the bees, is made for the benefit of man. And it is also obvious that bees cannot perform such an unbelievable task “on their own.”
Under the pen name of Harun Yahya, Adnan Oktar has written some 250 works. His books contain a total of 46,000 pages and 31,500 illustrations. Of these books, 7,000 pages and 6,000 illustrations deal with the collapse of the Theory of Evolution. You can read, free of charge, all the books Adnan Oktar has written under the pen name Harun Yahya on these websites www.harunyahya.com
- Harun Yahya
2of3 Beehive building removal,Beekeeping Swarm move into Beekeepers Honey Bee hive
Part 2 of 3,Beekeeping Honeybees beehive removal from building into bee hive. More BEEKEEPING at georgiabees.blogspot.com A honey bee swarm is moved to the safety of Georgia Beekeeper,John Pluta beehive before home owners kill them. A lesson for hobby beekeepers on one way to move a stray honeybee hive. Done in 27 minutes in Milledgeville Georgia by commercial beekeeper John Pluta.Watch other 2 parts.
- johnpluta
Natural Health From the Hive: Royal Jelly, Bee Pollen, Propolis and Honey
As honeybees buzz from blossom to blossom and back to the hive, they may be creating some of the most powerful natural ingredients effective in promoting good health. Supplying the queen bee with the nutrients she needs to outlive and outgrow the average worker bee, the bees also protect the hive from outside invaders through their steadfast work. Take advantage of all their work and promote your own health through all four ingredients created by bees: royal jelly, bee pollen, propolis and honey. Read on to learn more about how these ingredients may improve your daily and overall health.
Royal Jelly
Live like a queen! Royal jelly is produced by the worker bees solely to feed the queen bee, resulting in impressive longevity and reproductive capabilities in the queen. By taking this natural elixir, many people have laid claim to an enhanced physical condition, with claims of increased energy and the ability to fight off infection. In addition, the enjoyment of many other benefits is commonly noted, such as asthma, cholesterol, depression, high blood pressure, arthritis, and diabetes.
This magical creation of the worker bees cannot be recreated by humans, thus, like the queen bee, we must rely on them for its production. A natural source of many essential nutrients that are needed for our bodies to maintain good health, Royal Jelly is a liquid made up of approximately 67% water. To minimize the risk of contamination likely in such a state, it needs to be processed within a few hours of removal from the hive, a method that may include treating the product with a chemical preservative, freeze-drying the product, combining it with a natural preservative such as honey, or freezing or refrigerating it. If Royal Jelly is lyophilized, or freeze-dried, the quality of the nutrients is not affected. In fact, this process preserves the nutritional viability for up to four years and reduces the possibility of contamination during the encapsulating and bottling process, whereas Royal Jelly in its liquid state must remain frozen or refrigerated to avoid contamination.
Rich in B vitamins, fatty acids, folic acids, aspartic acid (for optimum tissue regeneration), amino acids, minerals and natural hormones, royal jelly provides many harmonizing health benefits throughout the human body.
Bee Pollen
Yet another product from the hands of worker bees, bee pollen has been coined “The Food of the Gods” for its superb health benefits and nutritional composition. Within the blossom of a plant, the stamen produces male seed, or pollen, which is collected by bees using their tongue and mandibles, transferred to their second pair of legs as a now-sticky substance, and stored on their body and legs for transport back to the hive. Commercially, mesh wire substitutes for the small chambers in the hive used for collection of honey and pollen. As the bees fly into the hives through small openings in the wire, the pollen is scraped from their legs and falls into a tray which can be removed by the beekeeper for collection. The pollen is often kept in its pure form after the removal of any foreign particles, packaged and then frozen. Pollen can also be consumed in capsule form, which extends its shelf life, usually 3 or 4 years, but, if processed correctly, the pollen loses none of its wonderful nutritional composition.
Vitamins C, A, and E, carotenoids, folic acid, B vitamins, collagen, lecithin (often associated with weight control), amino acids, rutin (a strong antioxidant), and minerals such as magnesium, calcium manganese, and copper all combine to form this complete food. Some believe that life can sustain itself solely on consumption of pollen and water. As for its apparent health benefits, the list is long: increased energy, weight loss, antibiotic properties, controlling asthma, immune system enhancement, regulation of prostate diseases, desensitization toward effects of hay fever, stress reducer and regulation of the digestive system.
When considering where your bee pollen comes from, choose domestic pollen, which is plentiful. Imported bee pollen, often from China, may be procured from unregulated facilities, increasing the likelihood of contaminants in the granules.
Propolis
Considered by many to be nature’s antibiotic, Propolis, created by honeybees from a resinous material in tree bark and leaves, protects the beehive against infection and any foreign organisms. For centuries, humans have used propolis for the same purposes – to fight infections – but also to increase energy and to promote healing.
Quite different than other products created by bees, propolis can be applied externally, as well as taken orally. Using its antibiotic properties, propolis can be applied to cuts and other skin abrasions to sterilize the wound. It is also taken orally as a natural alternative to more modern pharmaceuticals, such as penicillin and other antibiotics. Sporting another advantage over conventional medicines, propolis has shown an ability to maintain its effectiveness, while many antibiotics become ineffective as viruses and bacteria build immunity against them.
The nutritional content of propolis is as varied as that of pollen and royal jelly. It is rich in amino acids and bioflavonoids, promoting healthy immune systems. It also has a high vitamin content, consisting of all known vitamins, except Vitamin K. And it contains fourteen of the 15 minerals required by our bodies for normal function.
Again, being similar to other products from the hive, propolis is associated with promoting healthy body systems. It has been shown to fight against allergies, skin irritations, oral irritations (such as canker sores), respiratory illnesses, fatigue, inflammations and the everyday cold and flu.
To process propolis for human consumption, some will package it raw and freeze it, or the active ingredients can be removed and added to water or alcohol through a specific process, resulting in a liquid form or a dried and capsulated product. Due to its effectiveness, propolis may soon be available in many more products.
Honey
We are all familiar with honey, often thinking of it only as a natural sweetener. But like other products from the hive, it may have many medicinal qualities, including the ability to treat infection and provide energy more quickly than sugar. While sugar is made up of sucrose, honey contains glucose and fructose. Because all carbohydrates must be converted to glucose before our bodies can absorb them, honey, being made of glucose, is more easily converted to energy for our bodies, providing a quicker source of get-up-and-go than other carbs.
In addition to glucose and fructose, honey contains a large array of nutrients like its sister products from the hive, including vitamin A, C, D, E, K and the complete line of B-complex vitamins, minerals, amino acids, betacarotene and antioxidants. As J.S. Taylor notes in the book “Power of the Beehive”, “Bee pollen and propolis enzymes are present in even the purest of raw honey. These possess anti-viral and antibacterial properties that work from within the honey to sterilize wounds and assist healing.” The list of known nutritional benefits from honey keeps growing.
Reap the benefits from the work of thousands of honeybees by taking bee products daily and potentially increase your chances of maintaining an overall good state of health.
- Jess Lowery