Some living things use their own body heat in order to regulate the temperature of the environment in which they live. Those capable of doing this include warm-blooded creatures like mammals and birds. The body temperatures of a great many other cold-blooded creatures (lizards, snakes, tortoises, fish, snails, worms, lobsters, insects, etc.) change according to the temperature of their surroundings.

Bees achieve temperature balance in the hive by a number of methods. In the event that the hive temperature rises, the bees beat their wings to set up a current to cool it off again. (Above and side)

Bearing this in mind, it is striking that the temperature in beehives remains unchanged at 35 degrees centigrade (95 degrees Fahrenheit).37 Although bees are unable to regulate the temperature in the hive with their own internal body heat, they regulate the temperature in the hive with the heat given off by their own movement. One of worker bees' most important responsibilities is this stabilization of the hive temperature. No matter what the temperature in the surroundings (tree trunk, rocky space, etc.), honeybees always keep the temperature in the hive under strict control. From the end of spring to autumn, they maintain a temperature of a constant 34.5 to 35.5 degrees centigrade (94-96oF).

Honeybees are strongly affected by temperature changes. Processes such as the production of wax and honey all take place at a specific temperature. Those most affected by changes in the hive temperature are the young, and for that reason, great care is taken over the temperature in the brood cells. Bees engage in various activities in order to stabilize the temperature in the hive regardless of the temperature changes over the course of the day. In the early morning, for instance, when air temperatures are coldest, the workers throng together around the combs and warm the eggs with their own body heat. As the day goes on and air temperatures start to rise, this mass of bees gradually disperses. If the temperature continues to rise, the bees start to beat their wings in order to ventilate this region and lower the temperature. They seek to lower the temperature by directing the air current to the hive entrance and toward the combs.

On very hot days, bees use a rather stronger means of cooling. When the temperature in the hive rises to a severe level, rather than bringing pollen or nectar the foraging bees bring drops of water they've collected from various sources and sprinkle these over the brood cells.38 They then set up an air current with their wings to evaporate this water. Via this method, the temperature soon returns to its previous level.39 In one experiment, a hive was placed in direct sunlight on a day when the temperature had risen to 50 degrees centigrade (122oF). The bees were observed to be bringing in water constantly from a nearby source to keep the inside temperature at 35 degrees centigrade (95oF).

EFFICIENT INSECT FLIGHT An article in the pro-evolution magazine New Scientist on 12 October 1996 stated that insect flight was significantly inefficient and unproductive, and that only 6% of the metabolic power expended was converted into mechanical power. The rest, it was claimed, was dissipated in the form of heat. Jon Harrison of Arizona State University and his team then set about studying this, with astonishing results. There were actually very important reasons for the low efficiency in flight. These results were published in a report titled “Achievement of Thermal Stability by Varying Metabolic Heat Production in Flying Honeybees” in Science magazine (4 October 1996, Vol. 274, pp. 88-90). In these experiments, bees’ body temperatures, flight metabolic rates and wing-beat frequencies were measured by changing the air temperature around the hive. When the air temperature rose from 20 to 40 degrees centigrade (from 68 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit), the wing-beat frequency decreased by 16% and the metabolic rate by 50%, while their thoracic temperatures remained stable. Bees’ wing-beat frequencies registered a fall, but caused no problem in flight. From all this, it was realized that as the temperature rose, bee flight became more effective and productive. Bees’ muscles, it was thus discovered, are more efficient on hot summer days. Harrison then researched the reason why bee flight was less efficient in winter. He concluded that the heat given off in ineffective, inefficient flights helped to keep them warm on cold days. This occupies an important role in regulating the hive temperature. The conclusion from these detailed studies was that bees’ wing muscles serve two important purposes: to allow the bee to fly, but also to establish the required temperature in the hive. Thanks to their wing design, bees were able to vary their heat production and flight efficiency according to the surrounding conditions and in light of their requirements. As this example shows, scientists studying a creature cannot arrive at accurate findings if they look for chance developments or faulty features. We see very clearly that there are actually flawless features in nature: All life forms possess the exact characteristics they need, and always have. There can be no doubt that this is God’s flawless creation, with His infinite might and wisdom. When people engage in research with that perspective in mind—in other words, when they seek to study that perfection—they can witness the superior art of creation in nature from much closer up and achieve results much faster

Bees use a similar method to the one they employ in cooling the hive when it comes to warming it during the winter. When the temperature falls in the hive, they first come together in a large cluster. The outer crust of bees varies between 2.5 and 7.5 centimeters (1 to 3 inches) thick, depending on the intensity of the cold. The rest of the bees, which are inside, are not as closely packed as those on the outside. These bees constantly move, providing heat for the cluster. (It is known that at 10 degrees centigrade (or 50oF), a bee can produce 0.1 calories of heat per minute.) The bees move about more in order to generate more heat. Those on the outside shrink together, thus ensuring their bodies make less contact with the cold air.

The food in the honey stomachs of the outside bees is soon expended. At this point, those bees on the outside and those on the inside change places.40 By this method, bees are able to maintain the hive temperature at 35 degrees centigrade (95oF) even when the outside temperature drops as far as -30oC (-22oF).41

These solutions that bees employ in regulating the hive temperature are exceedingly effective and practical. The question that needs to be considered is how they discovered these solutions and how they arrived at the optimum hive temperature. It is most astonishing that an insect should be able to make such fine calculations.

First, it is essential for there to be some organ for measuring temperature in the bee's body. That being so the question then arises of how such an organ, as sensitive as a thermometer, came to exist. Since bees could not have come into possession of this system by chance, and cannot have identified what the hive temperature should be and how to maintain it by experimenting, then there must be a Power creating these abilities in bees.

It is impossible for bees to create all this themselves. Bees, most of whose adults live less than a month, cannot have worked out the design for this temperature-measuring system sited in their bodies, nor the information about when and how to heat their hive, by themselves.

All this leads us to one conclusion: Everything bees do is inspired in them by God, the Creator of all. The systems they possess and the matchless artistry also point us to Him.

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• 37. Karl von Frisch, Animal Architecture, p.87.
• 38. National Geographic Society, The Marvels of Animal Behaviour, pp.49-64.
• 39. Ibid.
• 40. Murray Hoyt, The World of Bees, Coward Mcnann Inc, New York, 1965, p.146.
• 41. C.D. Mitchener, The Social Behavior of Bees, 1974.

 

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