Ekeko is a god of good luck in Peru and the surrounding region.
Photo by Marjorie Manicke.
Bees need beehives. Beehives are structures which serve certain purposes.
The most optimal structure of a beehive would be the one which could be
constructed with the minimum amount of beeswax but which would hold the
maximum amount of honey. The cells of a beehive are hexagonal in cross-section,
packed together without gaps. While square cells would have also packed
without gaps, a beehive constructed out of square cells would be weaker
than the one constructed from hexagonal cells.
When we solve the optimality problem for an hexagonal
pyramid of unit radius and height h, compute a benefits-costs function
and attempt to maximize it with h as the independent variable, we find
that the apex angle of the individual cells to achieve the maximum capacity
for the minimum surface would have to be exactly 70.529 degrees.
Amazingly, all species of bees throughout the world
construct their beehives to this exact specification. Could this be through
natural selection from millions of possible shapes and forms? Could it
be mere chance? The probability of bees picking this angle randomly from
an infinite number is zero and bees certainly did not use modern calculus
to determine this angle. Is it safe, then, to assume that the bees were
provided with this information in their genetic code by their Creator?
Muzaffar Iqbal, Ph.D.
Regional Director for the Muslim World
CTNS-Science & Religion Program
