Young Enlightened Submitters

Sura 16 of the Quran is called "the Bee". The bees have been around producing honey for about 15 to 20 million years. Although sura 16 talks about many interesting matters, God chose the name "The bee", to get our attention to the importance of the bees. The bees are one of these miracles of God. We should look at them, learn from them and remember to say, Subhana Allah, Glorified be God, or Mashaa Allah, that is what God willed. It is the will of God to give us these beautiful creatures to serve us.

Bees do not only supply us with the delicious honey that we eat but they are very essential in keeping our plants living and well. They also make beeswax that is used in many goods.When the bees go to the flowers to feed on their pollens ( small parts of a flower that is important for growing seeds, fruits, or more flowers), they carry some of these pollens on their bodies. They move these pollens between different flowers. That is what we call Cross-pollination. This pollination helps keep the plants alive by making more seeds or flowers. From seeds we can have more plants.

It is a wonderful miracle of God. Bees are the chief workers of cross-pollination. If it were not for them, half of our most beautiful flowers would disappear. Bees work at amazing speed. A honeybee, thrusting her nose into one flower after another, can pollinate at the rate of about 30 flowers per minute!

Who taught the bees? What book did they read? Where did they go to school? God taught them. God programmed all these things into them.

The bees submitted to God and accepted whatever He gave them. They were created to serve us, and for us to appreciate them as a gift from God. The bees are happy and content to carry out their purpose. It is our turn as humans to submit to God, worship Him and be content with what He gave us.

Quran

It is interesting to know that the female bees , not the male bees are the ones who build the hives. This information was not known when the Quran was given to the Prophet Muhammed over 1400 years ago, but only God knew. God in the Quran used the words that mean the female bees are the ones to build the hives.

Some Interesting facts about Bees

1. Bees maintain a temperature of 92-93 degrees Fahrenheit in their nest regardless of whether the outside temperature is very hot or very cold..
2. Honey bees produce beeswax from small areas on the underside of their body.
3. Honey bees must consume about 17-20 pounds of honey to be able to produce each pound of beeswax.
4. Honey bees can fly up to 10 miles from their nest in search of food. Usually, however, they fly one or two miles away from their hive to search for food on flowers.
5. Worker honey bees live for about 4 weeks in the spring or summer but up to 6 weeks during the winter.
6. The queen may lay 600-800 or even 1,500 eggs each day during her 3 or 4 year lifetime. This daily egg production may equal her own weight. She is constantly fed and groomed by the worker bees.
7. A busy colony may contain 40,000 to 60,000 bees .
8. Honey bees fly at 15 miles per hour. A honey bee visits 50-100 flowers during one collection trip.
9. Honey is 80% sugars and 20% water. It is a delicious food when eaten by itself or added to other food.
10. Honey has been used for thousands of years as a topical dressing for wounds since microbes cannot live in it.
11. The honey bees must tap about two million flowers to make one pound of honey.
12. A hive of bees fly over 55,000 miles to bring you one pound of honey. The average worker honey bee makes only 1/12 teaspoon in her lifetime.

Quiz

1. Fill in the space using one of these words:

   Queen, females, males

   God in the Quran ordered the ..................... bees to build the hives.

2. Who taught the bees to build hives, make honey and beeswax?
3. How do the bees help the plants ?
4. What is a good way to show appreciation to God for giving us these blessings?
5. What is honey made of?