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Our family operates Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. Everyday, I observe millions of honey bees doing what God designed them to do. Since we have so many hives, I’m inspecting a beehive almost everyday. Each hive has only one queen. Through various ways of communication, she commands her 60,000 plus workers with precision. She will live several years, but the worker bee (female) will only live around a month. They simply work themselves to death. The queen can lay nearly 2,000 eggs a day! They build comb like expert engineers. When a honeybee finally emerges from its cell, it has to complete a series of assignments before it gets its pilot wings to forage flowers for nectar. First, it must clean cells and keep the other brood warm for two days. Then, between 3-5 days old it must feed older larvae. For the next 6 days it feeds the younger larvae. From day 12-17 the honeybee begins to produce wax, builds comb and transfers food within the hive. Then, from day 18-21 it must serve as a security guard at the entrance of the hive, making sure only members of this particular hive are allowed to enter. The entrance guards must also keep out other predators such as wasps, skunks, and mice. Finally when she turns 22 days old, she is awarded her flying status pollinating various plants, flowers and trees, gathering nectar, propolis, pollen and water and bringing it back to the hive. When she finds a good source of nectar, she will come back to the hive and communicate the exact directions to the nectar through a dance and supply the other bees with a sample of what she found. Often when I pull a frame of bees out for inspection, I can see several bees dancing on the frame while a crowd of her sisters observe her every move, memorizing how to fly to the exact location. With her four wings stroking at 11,400 times per minute she can fly 12 miles an hour. During her lifetime she will produce about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey. These worker bees must fly 55,000 miles to produce one pound of honey, visiting between 50-100 flowers in one flight. They cannot hear, but they have a keen sense of smell and can sense vibration and have five eyes!
The direct value of honeybee pollination to our agriculture is nearly 15 BILLION dollars a year! 80% of our food in the U.S. is due to honeybees. Honey contains vitamins, antioxidants and one antioxidant called “pinocembrin” is found only in honey. How can anyone look at the complexity of the honeybee and not conclude that the Biblical account of creation is true? If you’re ever in Central Illinois, stop by, tour our honey plant, look at our observation hive or put on a hat and veil and dive in a hive with me!
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