As you may have read many of the news stories, honey bee colonies are dying at an unprecidented rate, in both America and Europe. 50% of colonies have died in most locations. While scientists are not exactly sure why, it's very likely that those who do survive will be more resistant to whatever is the threat.
This new, slightly altered species will (hopefully) prosper.
For the theists out there- this is an example of how evolution works. Not slowly over time- but often rather quickly due to extreme stresses on a species.
2007-03-30 08:57:43 · 16 answers · asked by Morey000 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
You're absolutely right. It is also important to point out that only the queen bee and one or two lucky drones of every hive are able to pass their genetics on to future generations. In this case, it is not the survival of the fittest individuals that matters. It is the survival of the fittest hives. If a hive fails, every individual in it eventually dies. The queens and drones who provide the genetics for the fittest hives will be the ones whose DNA forms the basis for future "more evolved" hives. Everybody else never gets the chance to reproduce.
2007-03-30 09:12:02 · answer #1 · answered by Diogenes 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It depends on what the change is. Most evolution is slow.
We didn't evolve into what we are today overnight! It was a long process.
Building an immunity, however; takes less time than evolving. This may be the case with the bees.
2007-03-30 09:03:27 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm an evolutionist and an Atheist but to be fair, this is an example of evolution within a species. Most creationists resist the idea that one species can change so drastically that it becomes a new species. (I do believe this can happen -- and is the case with Darwin's finches. I just think your example doesn't address the objection of many creationists/intelligent design folks).
2007-03-30 09:04:26 · answer #3 · answered by SDTerp 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Evolution, in some cases like this one, works quickly when necessary, but in most cases happens slowly over time. It depends on whether the change is an adaptation to a threat of some kind, and how great that threat is.
2007-03-30 09:01:47 · answer #4 · answered by Dan X 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Every creature evolves in every generation. Usually it is so slow that it is all but unobservable, but sometimes an event will cause the need for an accelerated change. That may be what's happening with the bees. Let's hope they will be stronger - the world needs bees!
2007-03-30 09:05:52 · answer #5 · answered by Dawn G 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Of course... Evolution's a never-ending process so everything is evolving - some almost infinitely slowly, and most everything else too slowly for us to see. But we have had several species that we've seen *evolve over a lifetime* - and with the nasty environmental changes we're forcing on the planet, we'll see still more. (See: peppered moth, rat snake.)
2007-03-30 09:01:08 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Punctuated equilibria...
We're in a huge punctuation right now (I think ! or ?)
btw, the definition of evolution is a change in allele frequency in a population over time, so all populations are always evolving.
2007-03-30 09:02:16 · answer #7 · answered by Tiktaalik 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's useless to try teaching them science. They will claim that although the bees change, they're still the same "kind".
That's right, their taxonomy doesn't include a kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, or species - just "kind".
2007-03-30 09:02:54 · answer #8 · answered by eldad9 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Everything is in the process of evolving....
De-evolution only happens with people.
2007-03-30 09:03:39 · answer #9 · answered by the nothing 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bees are critical to pollinating crops,,almost every fruit and vegetable
on our tables is dependent on them....''Colony collapse'' is of serious concern..
2007-03-30 09:15:57 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋