| There are two basic types of intelligence. One is | | | | Here is what we have learned: Monarchs spend |
| prepackaged, ready-made kind of know-how which | | | | summers as far north as the Great Lakes and |
| we call instinct. Fish, insects, amphibians, and reptiles | | | | Canada. As the summer turns to fall, large loosely |
| all appear to operate on this level. They do what | | | | formed groups begin massing for southern migration. |
| they are programmed to do, and that is about all | | | | Butterflies with wings no larger than four inches fly |
| they can do. | | | | up to two thousand mile to southern California, |
| At the other end of the spectrum we find humans. | | | | central Mexico, or Florida for the winter. |
| People are endowed with free-lance, independent | | | | En route, the same trees are chosen as resting |
| intelligence which allows us to make our own | | | | places every year. Of course none of the insects |
| decisions. In between are an assortment of mammals | | | | have seen these trees before. Yet they land en |
| which use a mixture of instinct and "thinking" to one | | | | masse on the same branches generation after |
| degree or another. Cows, horses, cats, dogs, pigs, | | | | generation, migration after migration. |
| monkeys, and dolphins all fit into this broad category. | | | | Pacific Grove, California is winter home for many, |
| Honeybees | | | | maybe most, west coast monarchs. The whole town |
| Instinct tends to complicate the picture for | | | | is a refuge for the species. In fact, it is one of the |
| naturalists. Take the honeybee for instance. Like all | | | | few insect sanctuaries in the world. During the month |
| other insects, this bee is little more than a | | | | of October, several million monarch butterflies begin |
| programmed robot. Yet, at the same time, it | | | | arriving in this coastal town overlooking the Monterey |
| possesses a highly specialized instinct. It is an | | | | Bay. They stay until March. |
| instinctive engineer with a good deal of expertise in | | | | Some monarchs go elsewhere. On the Monterey |
| honeycomb production. | | | | peninsula, pockets of smaller concentrations are |
| Using 1.4 ounces of wax, bees develop | | | | found. But the vast majority congregate year after |
| hexagonal-cells built to a thickness of 0.073 mm with | | | | year in the same pines in the same grove. The grove |
| a tolerance of plus or minus 0.002 mm. This minimum | | | | itself is nothing but a few acres of tall pines next to |
| amount of wax proves adequate for holding four | | | | the sea. |
| pounds of honey. Now that is an impressive feat for | | | | Nevertheless, Pacific Grove has been the wintering |
| an insect, doubly impressive considering its small brain, | | | | spot for monarchs every year since at least 1907, |
| short life span, and utter lack of training. All in all, the | | | | when locals started keeping records. |
| bee's hexagonal-shaped comb is the strongest, most | | | | In the spring these butterflies return on the northern |
| space efficient structure they could build. | | | | route home where they mate and shortly thereafter |
| No one claims, unless they are joking, that the | | | | die. Are these the same insects that headed south |
| honeybee came up with the idea of the hexagon | | | | last fall? Evidently they are. A long-term study with |
| design. They couldn't. They don't have an | | | | thousands of tagged monarchs proved that large |
| independent ability for making decisions. They just do | | | | numbers of these butterflies make the round trip, |
| what they are programmed to do. | | | | some going all the way from Canada to Mexico and |
| The question is Who or What programmed the | | | | back again. |
| honeybee's construction instinct? Since the honeybee | | | | Curiously enough, the next generation does not make |
| could not program its own instinct, and everybody | | | | this journey. Nor does the next. During the summer, |
| agrees that is the case, the only alternative is that | | | | two or three generations of monarchs live out their |
| some Outside Source programmed the bee's | | | | short lives mating and dying. The third or fourth |
| engineering talent. | | | | generation of butterflies emerges out of their |
| What can be said about this Outside Source? Today, | | | | cocoons in late summer. |
| no scientists can program instinct. We wouldn't even | | | | By and large these are the ones destined for the |
| know where to begin. That implies a knowledge and | | | | round trip south. Once more, without leaders and |
| technology far in advance of our own. Obviously, this | | | | without any prior experience, millions of monarch |
| Outside Source knows something of construction | | | | butterflies will make their way south toward their |
| too. | | | | Pacific Grove winter sanctuary. Year after year, |
| Evidently, a higher intelligence with engineering | | | | instinct draws them back to the identical trees where |
| expertise programmed a bit of his own | | | | their ancestors passed previous winters. |
| hexagon-building knowledge into the bee's instinct. | | | | It is an interesting story, and it brings up a lot of |
| Which came first, the honeybee or its instinct? The | | | | "why" questions. Let's start off by saying that cold |
| honeybee's entire existence centers around comb | | | | weather (or maybe just shortened daylight hours) |
| construction and honey production. As far as we can | | | | might compel the monarchs south. But why does |
| tell, that has always been the case. Considering that | | | | Pacific Grove attract so many of these seasonal |
| the bee's instinctive behavior is such an intricate part | | | | travelers? How do they find this California town? |
| of it's life, chances are very good that whoever | | | | Why do they stop here rather than continuing |
| designed the honeybee's body also designed its | | | | southward? Why do they pick out the same trees |
| instinct. And both were made at the same time. | | | | that their predecessors chose in past years? And |
| Other Insects | | | | why do they return north in the spring? |
| Other insects display home-building instincts too. | | | | Monarchs, like honeybees, termites, and wasps, are |
| Australian termites construct high-rise towers. Some | | | | not capable of independent thought. They don't plan |
| measure twenty-five feet in height with overhanging | | | | things out. They don't set their own agenda. Every |
| eaves protecting against heavy rains. Termites in | | | | third or fourth generation responds to a detailed |
| Africa dig holes as deep as 130 feet seeking water. | | | | built-in travelogue. They go to Pacific Grove because |
| Wasp build homes out of paper, and ants tunnel out | | | | that is the place they are programmed to go. |
| complex underground homes. All of these insects | | | | They head north for the same reason. But Who or |
| depend upon an ingrained architectural instinct, a bit | | | | What designed this travel program? Again, since the |
| of programmed wisdom by the Outside Source. | | | | programmed instinct did not originate with the |
| One form of instinct we are all familiar with is | | | | monarch, it had to come from an external source. |
| migration. Mention migration and flocks of ducks or | | | | That Outside Source shows both biological and |
| geese come to mind. Usually we think of them in a | | | | geographical knowledge. What's more, this Outsider |
| rough "V" formation where one leg is shorter than | | | | must have a remarkably advanced technology to |
| the other. But other animals migrate too - fish, whale, | | | | implant such a thorough migration program into the |
| and insects. Insects? Yes, insects do migrate. C.C. | | | | tiny brain of a butterfly. |
| Williams, a British entomologist, listed some 250 | | | | The honeybee's engineering talent, the termite and |
| migrating insects. | | | | wasp's architectural skills, and the monarch butterfly's |
| Monarch Butterflies | | | | detailed, persistent travel itinerary are more than just |
| In general we can say, populations of insects make | | | | interesting tidbits of nature. Each show an area of |
| migratory movements, heading south in early fall and | | | | expertise far beyond what any short-lived, |
| north the next spring. Individuals probably die in route. | | | | microscopic-brained insect could achieve on its own. |
| That being the case, it is their offspring that continue | | | | They had help. An Outside Source supplied them with |
| the round trip. Our information is spotty on most | | | | specific knowledge to perform specific tasks. What |
| species, so, much of what we are told is little more | | | | we call instinct is, in fact, a bit of wisdom |
| than guesswork on insect migration. There is an | | | | programmed by the Outside Source. |
| exception, however. That exception is perhaps the | | | | Evolutionists offer no explanation for instinct. They |
| most popular insect of all - the monarch butterfly. | | | | usually avoid the subject. |