Bees and Tulips

When God created living things, he didn't create just one or two.  If He had, I think that those few beings would have been pretty lonely out there on the big Earth all by themselves.  I think He created thousands of species for a reason.  This reason is mutualism.  Mutualism is a relationship between two or more different species of living organisms where all benefit from the relationship. 

I specifically like to associate this idea with your local honeybee and the tulip plants outside the bank.  Now, as you well know, bees love nectar.  Since you were a little child, you've watched little bees go from flower to flower and alight in the middle of it.  When your mother told you that they were "sipping" the nectar, the bee was actually doing more than just that.  As the bee rests in the center of the flower, pollen collects in little "buckets" on its legs.  As the bee goes from flower to flower, some of the pollen drops in others and more is picked up.

What does nectar do for the bee?  The nectar helps it make honey!  What is honey?  Well, yes, it is that stuff that Winnie the Pooh eats and hides.  But really, it is the bees' storage for winter.  This is what they eat during the cold months when all the flowers have died.

What about that pollen that was mentioned?  Does this help the bee in any direct way?  No, but it does help the flower.  Flowers reproduce with the transportation of pollen.  For example, in that tulip bed near the bank, there are many tulips.  The bee takes pollen from one tulip and deposits it in another, joining the two gametes necessary for reproduction.

So you see, the flower benefits the bee, and the bee benefits the flower.  Without one the other could not function.  See how orderly God's creation is?  That could not just happen by chance!