28 November: Honey

The French Revolutionary Calendar celebrates Honey today. Here are a few fascinating facts about honey.

1. Honey is the only human food made by insects.
2. People have been eating honey for over 8,000 years. We know this thanks to a Mesolithic cave painting in Valencia, Spain, in which people are depicted collecting honey by climbing up ropes to a wild bee hive and collecting the honey in gourds.
3. You probably know that honey is the only food which never, ever goes off. In fact, honey found in Ancient Egyptian tombs is still edible. What you may not know is why. It's down to the chemical composition of honey - slightly acidic, and low in moisture. It is low in moisture because the bees go to great efforts to draw the excess moisture out by flapping their wings. Bees also have a special enzyme in their stomachs to break the nectar down into gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide, which prevents the growth of Bacteria and other organisms in the honey.
4. Thanks to this property, objects immersed in honey can be preserved for centuries. It was used in Ancient Egypt for embalming the dead. Honey has also been used as a natural remedy for wounds and burns - because bacteria can't grow in it, it helps guard against infection, something scientists are looking at more seriously now so many bugs are becoming immune to antibiotics.
5. Honey contains everything needed to sustain life. It has amino acids, sugar, even a little Water, so if you're ever lost in a desert, look for a beehive. It's also something worth stockpiling in your secret nuclear bunker. Honey provides 64 calories in a serving of one tablespoon.
6. In 2014, 1.5 million tonnes of honey were produced worldwide. China is the top honey producing country, accounting for 31% of the world's supply. Turkey, United States, Ukraine, and Russia are the runners up and produce 22% between them.
7. Not all honey tastes or looks the same. It varies according to the type of flowers the bees collected the nectar from. For example, linden honey is delicate and woody, buckwheat honey is strong and spicy, and eucalyptus honey has a subtle menthol flavour. As a general rule, lighter coloured honeys are mild in flavour while darker coloured honeys are usually more intense. In parts of the USA there is even honey which is Purple in colour, and scientists haven't yet figured out why.
8. Some species of wasp produce honey, too, such as the Mexican honey wasp, whose honey is a delicacy in Mexico. You need to be careful with wasp honey, though, as like the wasp itself, it can have a sting in the tail. Some wasp honey is made from poisonous plants and is therefore toxic.
9. The word honey comes from a Hebrew word meaning to enchant. It is mentioned in both the Bible and the Qur'an. In Jewish tradition, honey symbolises the new year, Rosh Hashanah. Apple slices are dipped in honey and eaten at that time to bring a sweet new year.
10. A honey bee produces 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey over the course of its life. There are a lot of bees in a hive, though, so a typical beehive produces between 30 to 100 pounds of honey a year. To produce a single pound of honey, bees must collect nectar from about two million flowers and fly over 55,000 miles. This amounts to a lifetime’s worth of work for around 800 bees. Two tablespoons of honey would be enough to fuel a bee’s flight around the world.  

New!

Jack Ward, President of Innovia, owes his life twice over to the enigmatic superhero, dubbed Power Blaster by the press. No-one knows who Power Blaster is or where he comes from - and he wants it to stay that way.

Scientist Desi Troyes has developed a nuclear bomb to counter the ever present threat of an asteroid hitting the planet. When Ward signs the order giving the go ahead for a nuclear test on the remote Bird Island, he has no inkling of Troyes' real agenda, and that he has signed the death warrants of millions of people.

Although the island should have been evacuated, there are people still there: some from the distant continent of Classica; protesters opposed to the bomb test; and Innovians who will not, or cannot, use their communication devices.

Power Blaster knows he must stop the bomb from hitting the island. He also knows it may be the last thing he ever does.

Meanwhile in Innovia, Ward and his staff gather to watch the broadcast of the test. Nobody, not even Troyes himself, has any idea what is about to happen.

Part One of The Raiders Trilogy.

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