We’re busy bees down here at Planet Science. Yes it’s the 10th National Honey Week from 5-11 May. Did you know that around 4,000 tonnes is produced in Britain every year? And that honey bees must gather nectar from two million flowers to make one pound of honey? No wonder they’re so busy! So bee a honey – carry on reading…

The line-up this week:

1. Gimme Five – facts about bees
2. Scicast: The Scicast Awards
3. Stump the Scientist: why do raindrops stick to glass?
4. Activity of the Week: Artificial Honey
5. Mouses at the Ready: Flipside magazines
6. Noticeboard: FYI
7. Recommended websites of the week
8. The Winners’ Enclosure
9. Joke of the Week

Bees

1. A bee shows its hive where the nectar source is by performing a waggle dance.
2. The bee is the only insect that produces food eaten by man.
3. The buzzing sound comes from the sound made by bees' wings which beat 11,400 times per minute  
4. The average honey bee will actually make only one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.
5. Honey has antiseptic properties and historically was often used as a dressing for wounds and a first aid treatment for burns and cuts.

These facts came from The Honey Association

Last week Sue Hollands asked

“My six year old son asked me why rain drops stick to windows. I came up with a reply involving surface tension but I’m sure there’s more to it. ”

Neethu Joseph replies

“Two words can explain it...

ADHESION and COHESION.

Adhesion and cohesion are attractive forces between material bodies.

Cohesive force is the force between same molecules…as in water. Water molecules have a force between themselves that holds them together. Adhesive force is the force between unlike molecules.

There exists an adhesive force between molecules of glass and water, which enable the water droplets to stick to the glass. And remember, when the weight of the water drop is greater than the adhesive force, water molecule can no longer stick to the glass.

A number of phenomena can be explained in terms of adhesion and cohesion. For example, surface tension in liquids results from cohesion, and capillarity results from a combination of adhesion and cohesion. The hardness of a diamond is due to the strong cohesive forces between the carbon atoms of which it is made. Friction between two solid bodies depends in part upon adhesion.”

Thank you very much. So on this occasion the scientist was NOT stumped!

This week’s question comes from Michelle Kovack who asks

“How do hair “detangler” sprays work?”

If you can help or have a burning question of your own then send us an email with STUMP THE SCIENTIST in the subject line to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk

Artificial Honey

You will need:

• Sugar
• Citric acid
• A hotplate or cooker
• Various beakers and dishes for heating, dissolving and crystallising the sugar.
• A stirring rod and thermometer
• Natural honey
• Corn flour
• Iodine solution

What you do

The instructions for this experiment require materials which are difficult to find in the UK. The following instructions approximate the materials and procedure shown in the video. If you have success using these notes or have an alternative procedure please let us know using the comments page.

1. Dissolve 100 grams sugar in 100ml of distilled water and pour into a dish. Add 0.1g of citric acid (you'll need to look at the strength of acid if you are using a solution) and heat the whole thing for an hour. Take it off the heat and let it cool.
2. Have a look in your dish and you should have something which looks very like honey.

If you accidentally get your real honey and your fake honey mixed up you can then test to work out which is which.

1. Make a very weak solution of corn flour and water - you may need to experiment with different quantities that work well with the honey you have.
2. Put 20ml of each of the 'honeys' in two beakers and add 10 ml of corn flour solution to each, and then make each up to 100ml with some more water.
3. Warm each solution gently, to no higher than 40 degrees Celsius for 60 minutes.

1. An alternative, if you can find it is 20ml of honey, 60 ml of water and 5ml of Dr Oetker's Whip It, a whipped cream stabiliser made of dextrose and modified corn starch: http://www.oetker.ca/en/product/baking-ingredients/pouch/11140
2. Again, warm at 40C for an hour.
3. Then add some drops of iodine solution and stir. The real honey will remain honey coloured, whilst the fake honey turns blue.

What's going on?

Natural honey is mainly made from 'invert sugar', where the sucrose molecule is broken into its glucose and fructose components. A small amount of acid (citric, ascorbic or even just lemon juice) helps break down the table sugar in the experiment in this way. Invert sugar doesn't crystallise as easily as table sugar, so it is more often used in a cooking when a pure syrup is required.
When it comes to telling which is which, natural honey contains the enzyme amylase along with a lot of other enzymes. When starch (in the corn flour) is added, and the water / honey / starch mixture is left at the optimal temperature, the amylase rapidly breaks down the starch into sugar. There is no such enzyme in the artificial honey, so the starch shows up as a positive iodine test for starch. If you over-heat the test the amylase will become denatured and stop working, so make sure you keep the solutions around body temperature.

Special Safety advice

Be careful when heating the sugar as it can get very hot. Do not taste your artificial honey unless you have used food grade materials and the appropriate cooking equipment, and DO NOT consume after you have finished the iodine test.
This experiment was taken from the Scicast site. Whilst you’re there why not submit a film of your own? Next year’s competition is now open for entries.

This week we have 15 copies of the April Flipside magazine to give away. Features include a report on astronauts working in the world’s most expensive laboratory, crashes and accidents, dinosaurs on stage and germs on hands. A real mixed bag really!

If you’d like to win one then email us with your name and address, and the words ‘FLIP UP AND OUT’ in the subject line, to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk.

The draw will take place at 5pm on Wednesday 7th May.

If you haven’t come across Doc Brown’s Chemistry Clinic before then you’re in for a treat. There are quizzes, worksheet and revision aids for KS3, GCSE and A’ level. It’s not just chemistry either – in the KS3 section there’s biology, physics, earth science and mixed science resources too. There’s a fantastic alphabetical list of the users and applications of chemicals but don’t get carried away and print it out ‘cos it’s 30-40 pages long!

By the way, if you’ve got a good website to recommend then send it along to us
at planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk with RWW in the subject line. Thank you very gladly.