Basic HTML Version
THE HONEYBEE
(Continued from page 23)
with relative bearings to the sun?
How did such a tiny crcature lea rn
lo equate sun angles and di stances
with dance-step routines? How does
a bee " learn" to quantify concepts
like distance, time, and direction?
Where did the interna! time clock
come from? If one bee came up with
this mind-boggling scheme all by
he rself, how did she get the rest of
the hive to understand her lan–
guage?
lf that weren' t enough, consider
sorne of the o ther complex naviga–
tional problems bees have to solve
once they learn the Jocation of a
flower find . Often natural obstruc–
tions require the bee to fly a dogleg
course to reach its desired targe t.
Again picture a scout returning
from a fl owery find having mad e a
large in-flight detour (in order to
avoid objects Like houses, trees, o r
hills). She then communicates the
direction based on, of all things, the
straigh~-line
course to target! Now
that's quite an achievement, consid–
eri ng the bee never flew in that di–
rection either leaving or returning to
the hive ! Yet somehow she makes
the correct " trigonometric calcu–
lations" for her fellow workers.
They, too, successfully fly the dog–
leg, figuring out all the distances
and angles a long the way.
During actual flight, bees have
10
reckon di stance flown over lhe
ground versus movement through
the air. This becomes critica! when
one is trying
10
fty a proverbial bee–
line, but is being bulfeted by a
crosswind. Somehow, just like an ex–
perienced navigator, the bee has to
compensate for the crosswind drift.
Again, all the aeronautical equip–
ment necessa ry for these com–
plicated calcu la tions is bu ilt right
into th e· bee's tiny ana tomy. lts mul–
lifaceted eye can measure speed
over the ground by making direcl
visual checks. Relative wind move–
ment is detected by means of sensi–
tive hairs located on the eye. The
bee's tiny brain then compares the
two measurements and comes up
with a corrected "course to station."
Bees will even "ground" them–
selves under adverse weather condi-
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1978
tions. lf a stiff headwind is blowing,
they could easily end up fty ing
backwards trying to track down a
particular gro up of flowers. They
avoid this rather awkward aerial ex–
igency by using their own mini–
wea the r-advisory sys tem . Before
takeoff, bees will measure wind
speed wi th their antennae to deter–
mine if it is safe lo proceed.
Bees also have lo work out a daily
" fli ght plan" based on the amount
of light available and the season of
the year. For most efficient opera–
tions, first takeoff shou ld occur early
in the morning to allow for the
maximum "time on station" gather–
ing nectar and pollen. But a
premature depa rture will mean in–
sufficient light to work by. Bees get
around this problem by using their
eyes to gauge optimum departure
time, much like a photographer
would employ his light mete r.
In the evening, ftight timing be–
comes much more complicated. l f
the bee leaves for her last trip when
the light is at the same intensity as it
was for her first morning departure,
she's likely to come home groping in
the dark. Part of the remaining ligh t
will be consumed in getting to and
from the target. So the bee correctly
calculates that the last flight in the
evening can only take place with the
light intensity slightly brighter than
it was in the mo rning. As one author
pul it , this is "an astonishing inst inc–
tive calculation of things to come,
considerin g the smallness of a bee's
brain" (Vitus B. Droscher ,
The
Magic ofthe Senses,
p.
48).
Pe rhaps it 's not so astounding
when you consider who designed a ll
the miniaturized ci rcuitry in the first
place. By compa ri son, consider for a
moment the remarkable strides man
has made in the field of micro–
miniaturization in the last few yea rs.
Most of it took the combined elforts
of highly intelligent, trained and ex–
pericnced individuals. In spi te of
that. man has ye t to come even re–
mo tely close to matching the levels
of design found in the sma ll bra in of
the honeybee.
Can anyth ing. then, but a highly
skilled and creative B.eing account
for the bee's remarkable behavior?
By any logical standards the answer
to this question should be obvi–
ous.
o
Personal from...
(Conrinued from page
1)
gradua ting from high school, l'd
look for the college or university
that would teach me what 1 am,
why, and what the true values a re.
I'd want to learn something more
than merely a profession for earning
an income.
But 1 am no longer a lad of eigh–
teen. And 1 not only know these
answers, but 1 know also that the re
is only one place on earth where a
student may learn these answers
that a re wo rth more than all the
money in the world. But, for that
matter, when you lea rn these an–
swers and apply thern, you don.'t
have to worry about money- for the
very applica tion of these principies
brings econo rnic secu rity.
The only college o r university on
ea rth tha t teaches these most impor–
tant a reas of knowledge is Ambassa–
dor College at Pasadena, California.
People remark tha t they never
have seen such a happy atmosphere
as the A!Jlbassador College campus.
"Why. a ll your students seern to
really enjoy life," they say. "They
seem alive. a lert. full of spark and
interest- and happy!"
"You're right," 1 reply. "They
do-and they a re!"
When 1 started writing the first
paragraph of this
Personal
ta lk.
wha t 1 had in mind was to tell you
what man is. I intended lo show you
that science doesn't really know.
What we call education in the usua l
sense, as disseminated at colleges
a nd universities, doesn't know.
Space does not now allow me to
get into this discussion of what man
is, so l'm afraid 1 cannot ge t tha t
explanation into this present talk.
It
would take ten to twenty typed
pages lo explain it, anyway. So it
probably would be better to write it
as a full a rticle later on.
The true answer. 1 think. is not
only thrilling and exci ting. but it is
a lso important!
By th e way. if you are faci ng this
question about whether to a ttend
college- o r which college-1 suggest
you write to the Ambassador Col–
lege Admissions Offi ce, 300 Wes t
Creen St reet, Pasadena, California
9 1123.
o
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