In
recent years, engineers and product designers have increasingly realized
something that bees apparently have always known: configuring even a very thin
material into a six-sided honeycomb pattern makes it much stronger than it
would be in some other shape.”—The New York Times, October 6, 1991.
IT IS not surprising that men can profit from
a careful study of insects. An ancient man of faith, Job, once said: “Ask,
please, the domestic animals, and they will instruct you; also the winged
creatures of the heavens, and they will tell you. . . . Who among all
these does not well know that the hand of Jehovah itself has done this?” (Job
12:7-9) Yes, the wisdom of the Creator is evident in such common things as the
hexagonal shape of the cells that you can see in honeycomb.
While the wax walls of these cells are a mere
1/80 inch [about a third of a millimeter] thick, they are extremely
strong. In fact, they can bear some 30 times their weight.
This strength can be utilized in practical
applications, such as in cushioning equipment against blows. It is even
protecting military equipment being parachuted to earth. The New York Times
notes about this: “Objects as heavy as jeeps are fastened to platforms with
blocks of honeycomb underneath to absorb the blow of landing.”
Man-made products with this design can be
formed from many materials. The most common seems to be paper. Nylon-fiber
paper and resin are being used to form honeycomb that goes into the fuselages
of some large airplanes. The strength comes with relatively little weight. Why?
Most of the space between the panels is air, so there is little weight. The air
has good insulating qualities too.
The simple bee does not really “know” all of
this, for it does not have a degree in engineering. Yet, daily it goes about
its work with the instinctive wisdom provided by the Creator, Jehovah.
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