Jim said,

"While it is not the case here, the debate/argument tactic of asking someone to "Explain it to me as if I were a 5-year-old" is an old one, and tends to be unfair, as it demands far too much from questioned, while attempting to legitimatize someone arguing from ignorance. One should demand that they do their own homework before arguing, so that they may argue from an educated and informed stance."

Hurray!!!  Thank you James.  This is such an important concept....it is NOT acceptable for those who have done no mental work and/or are ignorant about a topic to demand of the more experienced, knowledgeable party to prove *everything* that can take hours (or weeks) to study and learn for oneself.  Historically, this was an obvious point that almost all ordinary folks accepted.  You went to college to learn and that took TIME.  You put in the time, you learned the basics, and then you could work from an educated position.  Now, many think that if they don't understand a complicated issue without any mental work *right away*, it's the fault of the one trying to do the explaining.  Aaargh.  If you don't know any physics, then maybe you should just take the word of someone who DOES!!!  (of course you can/should always get a second opinion...not all "doctors" are right!)

Hexagons are nature's way of settling into the state of least potential energy.  All neighboring cylinders, if pliable, will form hexagons.  This is BASIC PHYSICS.  Bees aren't spending any energy or brain-power to "create" hexagons in their combs.

On another aspect of this topic, I don't know how bees determine the vertical slope they need to put into cells so that the honey etc. doesn't run out.   Does anyone know?

Christina

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html