Tracking God News - God Loves Interdependence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ God loves interdependence - The Orchid and the Bee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the jungles of Central and South America live some curious creatures. Among the strangest are a group of about 175 species of bees. These are the orchid or 'gold' bees. They are known for their brilliant metallic coloration, fast flight for sometimes long distances and for having tongues that sometimes are twice as long as their bodies!
The males of these bees will fly long distances to find a flower that is necessary for their survival. But, why do just the males do this? That is the real story.
The male orchid bee will fly for up to 30 miles until he finds just the flower that he needs, the bucket orchid. He may then have to fight other orchid bees to get his turn at the flower. This orchid produces a wax that is necessary for the orchid bee's survival. The wax contains chemicals that are necessary for the bee to reproduce.
The orchid bee will scramble around the slippery outside of the 'bucket' part of the orchid. Once in a while, during this activity, the bee will fall into the bucket. When that happens, a very curious thing occurs. You see, the bucket has walls that are so slippery that the bee cannot climb out! There is a little liquid in the bottom, so if there were no way out, the poor bee would drown.
But, God designed the Coryanthes orchid with a very special escape hatch. Deep in the back of the orchid is a little tunnel. The bee climbs out of the bucket into this tunnel. This is where another very strange thing happens.
If this is the first bee that has fallen into the bucket, the orchid will trap it in the tunnel. But, only for a while. The reason it does this is that this is how the orchid reproduces. While the bee is trapped in this tunnel, the orchid will actually glue a little sack of pollen on the back of the bee.
When the glue has hardened enough, the orchid will let the bee go. The bee then crawls out of the tunnel and flies away.
Then, if another bee falls into the bucket, it will crawl out of the tunnel and will not be stopped. But, if a bee with a bundle of pollen glued on his back falls into the bucket and crawls through the tunnel, the orchid has a little device
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that scrapes the pollen off of the back of the bee. That pollen can then be used to make seeds.
As far as we know, without the bucket orchids, the orchid bees would die. There would not be any baby orchid bees. And, without the orchid bees, the bucket orchids would die. They could not make any seeds.
Don't you think that God had fun designing the bucket orchid and the orchid bee? Don't you think that He designed them to teach us a lesson?
In our lives, many people, animals and plants depend on us for different things. God even depends on us to supply some things that He needs. And, we depend on God, animals and plants for the things that we need. God made it that way.
In fact, God made each one of us to supply something that no one else can supply. Just like that orchid. God is counting on each one of us to live with Him forever in Heaven. If we are not there, Heaven will always be missing a little bit that only we can supply.
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There is a great video that was put out by NATURE over 15 years ago. Fortunately, it is still available. Don't be put off by the name, it is totally kosher. It shows the way that different flowers get pollinated. One of the best sequences is a few minutes on the bucket orchid and orchid bee as described above. The name of the tape is 'Sexual Encounters of the Floral Kind' (I warned you). Fortunately it is still available from the WNET Video Distribution. Phone 1 800 336 1917.
There are some great orchid plants for sale here: http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?hawaiian-tropical-flowers+txhJuV+orchidplants.html Consider using one as you demonstrate the orchid and bee relationships.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracking God News IS PUBLISHED BY: http://www.trackinggod.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
copyright 2002
Ron McCluskey
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