RGNS

Projects Related to Honey and Honeybees

2015-2016 Environmental Stewardship Program

Environmental Pesticide Concentrations The measurement of insecticide, fungicide and herbicide levels in honey bees (Apis mellifera), wax and pollen in three different environments, Agriculture (Rural farmlands), Urban (Suburb in small city), Pristine (National Forest) This is part of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math ("STEM") and Long Term Environmental Research programs at Rabun Gap Nacoochee School. A Bayer CropScience award and other interested donors provided the funding for this experiment.

2015-2016 Elective Science Class

Botany, Microbiology, and Entomology

Effect of a common agricultural herbicide on honey bee gut bacteria The effect of field realistic dosages of a common agricultural herbicide on honey bee gut bacteria was measured. Six groups consisting of 300 to 500 bees in each group were fed sucrose solution with Roundup™ added at different concentrations

Effects of Glyphosate on Honey Bee Gut Bacteria

Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School 2012-2013 Science Symposium

Honeybees Perfume Scent Preference- Leanne Douglass, Madison Bueck

Honeybees are highly specialized creatures, with strong scent preferences. We reported on honeybees that showed a correlation between different scents and honeybee preference. Scented filter paper was used to attract the honeybees, and simple counting quantified the number of insects attracted to the cologne and perfume fragrances. Upon analysis of honeybees were most attracted to scents that were earthy. We deduced that the honeybees have a scent preference for Tonka beans within the certain earthy scented fragrances.

Qualitiative and Quantitative Analysis of Commercialized Honey- Jacky Nie, Shawn Xu

Addition and modification of honey, often to increase yield and profit, is a growing problem. Identification of these modifications is very difficult. A high-efficiency method for batch sampling inspection of the blending components in a great quantity of diverse disputable honey product samples is urgently needed. We establish a method to analyze different blending components in the honey samples based on qualitative identification by traditional methods and quantitative test by HPLC and Automated Kjeldahl apparatus. Through two phases of experiments, this method provides theoretical basis for both qualitative identification and quantitative test of honey sample

Analysis of pH, Specific Gravity and Resistance of Honey- Wolf Reichard

Honey is a highly regulated product with a very strict set of chemical requirements and guidelines that must be met for a substance to qualify for the classification of "pure" honey. We performed experiments that offered results for number of calories per sample, pH, and electrical conductivity of three different samples of honey. Each of these tests offered results that could be used to determine the purity of honey and related information regarding the pollen type. The results also showed that some of the honey samples were diluted with water and thickened with starch.