Foundations

 March 26, 2021

.5 mm. It’s not much, but it makes all the difference. Yesterday’s Scripture continues to prod my imagination. Isaiah 58:12—“You shall raise the foundations of many generations.” A half millimeter in foundation may be the key to survival...or death. I’m speaking of course, about the foundation used in honeybee frames. Foundation is the wax sheet with a hexagonal cell design embossed in it as a guide for the bees to build out their comb. Commercially produced foundation has a width of 5.4 mm per cell, while in the wild, bees tend to build cells of 4.9 mm diameter. Commercially produced foundation is designed for maximum honey production; larger cells means a minimally larger harvest, but for a commercial beekeeper with hundreds or thousands of colonies, even a small increase per cell potentially means much more honey. 

The problem with this is that when these commercial sheets are used as foundation for the brood nest, the bees adapt, producing larvae (and ultimately bees) that are larger. The larger larvae take a day or two longer to mature, and therein lies the rub. Some years ago, a mite from the Himalayan area made its way to European and American colonies. This mite, Varroa, didn’t seem to cause too much trouble in its native habitat, but has devastated colonies in Europe and the Americas. It turns out that Varroa needs a bit longer incubation time to mature, which is exactly what happens when the larger cell foundation is used. Bees which build their own comb from scratch seem to be somewhat more able to handle Varroa than those raised on commercial foundation. But letting the bees build their own comb means a smaller harvest, so the response has been to develop chemical treatment of the mite, which brings its own cluster of problems. All because of a half millimeter.

Raising the foundations of many generations is an exciting, but sobering thought. The slightest aberration from God’s original design could spell the difference between someone’s thriving or struggling. I am so very grateful for the foundation laid for me by the saints at Westside Baptist Church when I was growing up. Their faithfulness in life and teaching continue to be a solid rock upon which I stand. They were diligent in instruction, in modeling behavior, in consistently pointing me to Christ. I watch people who weren’t fortunate enough to have such a foundation. They are devout, sincerely following Christ, but often have struggled unnecessarily because they weren’t given the right foundation. It had gaps, didn’t fully conform to the Designer’s pattern, and when they built upon it, it worked somewhat, but wasn’t ideal for healthy Christian living. My prayer is to be as faithful to God’s pattern as I can so the foundation I raise enables those who build to build in such a way as to live healthy, productive Christian lives.