our bees like brambles according to CEH

[Erichalfbee]

What do you do with this coefficient? Multiply or divide by it? or . . . . ?

It’s more complicated than that. There is a good article here
https://www.beeculture.com/why-honey-pollen-is-difficult-to-interpret/
The bottom line is that the CEH analysis tells you what plants your bees visited but not necessarily what your honey is.

 

[ericbeaumont]

The verges and waterway banks around here seem to be more densely covered each year with yellow flowering brassicas.

Yes, the yellow is a common London roadside sight these days; is it hedge mustard or escaped OSR?

 

[joelsoo]

this is mine, received yesterday. fig leaf gourd is a strange one i planted them in allotment and its like 3 miles away. but in 2019, i did take this colony back from allotment so may be 2019's honey remaining in the comb...?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Nice thing to put on your label

 

[Murox]

Yes, the yellow is a common London roadside sight these days; is it hedge mustard or escaped OSR?

Probably what I call ba*t*rd cabbage - this sort of stuff - its all some sort of Rapistrum.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

Got mine today. Was expecting a lot more bramble, as it’s all around the apiary…

nice....does it taste of raspberry?

 

[holmbee]

and neighbours must like radish as we dont grow any

We queried the identification of turnips in our sample of 2019. Apparently it is difficult to be precise among taxa. Here is the official explanation from CEH:

Within the current scheme we identify the pollen within honey by sequencing a small part of a single plant-specific gene which has the most comprehensive database for plants. It is perfect our purpose, environmental monitoring of change (we follow the sequence rather than the identification given), it is not intended for the certification of honey. We can only give the closest match to the region we have sequenced; sometimes this is to the plant species level, other times it is only the plant family. Brambles rarely match to a higher taxanomic level than genus (Rubus) as they evolve so rapidly. Identification to species in the genus Brassica must also be regarded with caution. They are so highly cultivated that an identification of B. rapa (turnip) could very easily be B. napus (OSR). Therefore, if you get a high abundance of any brassica species it is most likely to be that flowering in highest numbers surrounding your hive.

The result is of course just from pollen within the nectar rather than an analysis of the the nectar. It can also be influenced by the date you sample. For example our results hardly show any lime as the bees had left that and moved on the bramble and clover on the frames sampled. It is interesting to read but treat with caution.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

We queried the identification of turnips in our sample of 2019. Apparently it is difficult to be precise among taxa. Here is the official explanation from CEH:

Within the current scheme we identify the pollen within honey by sequencing a small part of a single plant-specific gene which has the most comprehensive database for plants. It is perfect our purpose, environmental monitoring of change (we follow the sequence rather than the identification given), it is not intended for the certification of honey. We can only give the closest match to the region we have sequenced; sometimes this is to the plant species level, other times it is only the plant family. Brambles rarely match to a higher taxanomic level than genus (Rubus) as they evolve so rapidly. Identification to species in the genus Brassica must also be regarded with caution. They are so highly cultivated that an identification of B. rapa (turnip) could very easily be B. napus (OSR). Therefore, if you get a high abundance of any brassica species it is most likely to be that flowering in highest numbers surrounding your hive.

The result is of course just from pollen within the nectar rather than an analysis of the the nectar. It can also be influenced by the date you sample. For example our results hardly show any lime as the bees had left that and moved on the bramble and clover on the frames sampled. It is interesting to read but treat with caution.

thanks for sharing and makes sense

 

[Woodland bees]

we submitted our summer honey

I would agree with the comments about cover crops, they have all sorts of radish in.

Triticium turgidum, caught my eye. I didn't know honey bees frequented wheats, is this common?

 

[drex]

IHave never bothered to have mine tested and it appears to be such a blunt tool, that it does not seem much use. I just keep my eyes open for flowering when I walk round the area with the dog

 

[Erichalfbee]

IHave never bothered to have mine tested and it appears to be such a blunt tool, that it does not seem much use. I just keep my eyes open for flowering when I walk round the area with the dog

Well it's not really for that

.....Welcome to the National Honey Monitoring Scheme website - working in partnership with UK beekeepers to monitor long-term changes in the condition and health of the countryside.


Is what is on their website.

 

[Moobee]

Here’s mine, from the summer honey - interesting and a mixed bag dominated by bramble. Tamarisk is unsurprising as it’s the main tree on this coastal stretch (& we have 6 in our garden alone). Erigeron also pops up several times and think it’s mostly the local ‘sea daisies’.
Pseudopanax is an odd one and further down the list was Stenanona and Streptophyta which seem a bit bizarre. Can anyone explain those?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Pseudopanax is an odd one and further down the list was Stenanona and Streptophyta which seem a bit bizarre. Can anyone explain those?

Pseudopanax grows in people's gardens.
As for the other two your bees have been flying to Mexico and drinking from your pond

 

[Beekeeper Brownie]

is there a famers crop which is recorded as garden radish...seemed odd in that quantity

Some farmers do grow radish as a catch crop after harvesting early cereals and will often incorporate the grown radish back into the soil before sowing the next crop. A catch crop as quick growing species of plant, which radish are which you use to try a 'mop up' left over fertiliser with and also to use their natural rooting structure to improve soil structure and add in organic matter. The radish species used are quite different to that grown in the garden but not that dissimilar, normally lacking the bulbous root

 

[elainemary]

Mine like brambles (rubus) too, but then my hives are sited within bee flight of a major horticultural research station specialising in fruit crops, and well known for their raspberry varieties etc. My bees seem to get the pick of the crop

According to a webinar I watched with DrAnna Oliver from NHMS Brambles are the top Uk plant found in their samples, at 24% of all honey samples nationally

 

[elainemary]

It’s more complicated than that. There is a good article here
https://www.beeculture.com/why-honey-pollen-is-difficult-to-interpret/
The bottom line is that the CEH analysis tells you what plants your bees visited but not necessarily what your honey is.

You make a really good point. Forget me not (a minuscule pollen size) always comes up in my Spring honey analysis as the top plant, way ahead of willow and sycamore!
Apparently if rosebay willow herb comes into your analysis for summer, it suggests even if in low quantities there is good nectar content. The pollen size is larger and less likely to be picked up by the bees when foraging for nectar due to the flower design.

 

[plain_hunt]

This is mine, but I haven’t a clue what Stenanona is, or where the bees would find it! I find it quite interesting to have three year to compare, and Bramble is top, but then I always take my sample in late September.

 

[holmbee]

This is mine, but I haven’t a clue what Stenanona is, or where the bees would find it! I find it quite interesting to have three year to compare, and Bramble is top, but then I always take my sample in late September.


View attachment 26303

I think it is a tropical plant family. Possibly a type of Magnolia. However I am far from certain.

 

[user 819]

Stenanona is a South American/Central American exotic, may somewhere nearby there is a an exotic glasshouse or RHS gardens.

 

[plain_hunt]

Stenanona is a South American/Central American exotic, may somewhere nearby there is a an exotic glasshouse or RHS gardens.

Thank you, thats useful. There is a garden centre nearby, close enough for the bees to go to, and lots of nice gardens around, but short of knocking on doors and asking people what’s in their gardens, I won’t find out. No RHS gardens around though.