Shouting Honeybees & Coffee - January 2026
- Cynthia Zager Godwin
- Jan 21
- 4 min read
IN THIS POST:
Shouting Honeybees & and their Effect on Coffee
Writer’s Corner
Did You Know Honeybees Shout?
How do these tiny creatures survive when there’s nothing to forage and nothing to do but hang out at the hive all winter?
Let's take a look at these mind-numbingly little complex guys. A design so complex, it literally shouts, “We had a Creator!”
But I say, surely, they have never heard, have they? Indeed, they have; “Their voice has gone out to all the Earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” (Roman’s 10:18)
The Lord's words about His creation have gone out to the ends of the world. That covers honeybees.
Honeybees communicate with a famous “waggle” dance. When a bee finds nectar, she (all workers are female) returns to the hive and performs a complex figure-eight dance that works like a GPS system. This tells the other bees what direction to fly and how far.
That's not all The dance also includes the quality of the nectar based on nutrients and sugar content. Guess what? Flowers with good quality nectar get visited more often.
Besides using the sun, scent, and vibration to navigate, bees also use electrical and electromagnetic fields. Their antennas have receptors that allow them to detect a flower’s electrical signal—different for each type of flower.
Bees also use tiny hairs on their body to collect an electrostatic charge while flying. This allows them to scan electrical gradients in the Earth and atmosphere, and make constant course corrections inflight.
Back home at the hive, bees produce a rhythmic electric pulse, much like a heartbeat. It changes when the colony is in danger, such as when a wasp attacks or the temperature drops. It also changes when the nectar supply increases or the colony prepares to swarm and find a new home.
Swarming bees generate 100 to 1000 volts of electricity. How much is that? It’s similar to the same electrical charge generated by a thunderstorm. (Less than 2.0 nC m-3 and up to +6.7 nC m-3 for the science nerds reading this).
When it comes to stomachs, bees have cows beat. Cows don’t have four stomachs. They have one stomach with four compartments. Bees have two stomachs. Once is her digestive stomach where food gets digested. The other is her crop stomach. This holds nectar while she's out foraging. It can hold almost as much as she weighs. Enzymes in this stomach begin the first step in the process that turns nectar into honey.
How long do bees live? It depends on when they’re born. Hardworking summer honeybees live 4-6 weeks before their wings fray and their bodies give out.
Born in late summer or early fall, honeybees undergo a complete physiological change that allows them to live 6 months or more. They develop specialized organs that store more fat and protein. They also produce vitellogenin. This special protein slows down aging and protects their cells.
How about Her Majesty, the queen? How long does she live? Two, five, or even eight years.
What are the bees doing when the flowers disappear, the weather turns cold, and snow covers much of the landscape? They protect the queen. The workers surround Her Highness, vibrate their wings, and keep her at a toasty 92° F (33° C). Workers rotate in and out of the circle, to stay warm themselves, and consume the honey they collected over the summer.
The next time you eat a fruit or vegetable, enjoy a piece of chocolate, or drink a cup of coffee at your favorite over-priced hangout, thank a honeybee. Wait coffee?
Doesn't it self-pollinate? Yes, but the pollen a honeybee transfers to the coffee flower makes for better tasting coffee and causes the plant to produce a higher yield of beans. That translates to lower prices or it should!
How important are honeybees to feeding the world? They pollinate 75% of all flowering crops. That works out to every three to four bites of food you eat. And it doesn’t include all the beautiful flowers that would cease to exist without honeybees. No honey bees? No roses on Valentine’s Day (although they prefer the wild ones).
A word of warning to us humans. Expose bees to too much 5G electromagnetic radiation (EMF), like building a cell tower too close to their hive, and they can’t find their way home. Not good for them and not good for us.
There’s so much more I could write about the amazing honeybee, which we can’t live without. This gives you a snapshot of the humble, shouting honeybee who improves the taste of your coffee.
For since the creation of the world His (God’s) invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)
Writer’s Corner
The art student I hired to draw a map of the planet for my science fiction novel came through beautifully. He’s graduating in June and wants to be an art teacher. He so much enjoyed producing the map, that he plans to pursue doing more like it in the future. Maybe, I started him on a second career!
I hired a cover designer at the beginning of the month since I'm going to self-publish. The first attempt came back, too dark and didn’t convey what the novel is about. Since covers are considered a book's most critical piece of marketing, when it comes to enticing someone to buy, it will take time. I'll keep you posted.
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