The wonderful people at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology run the National Honey Monitoring Scheme, which allows us to submit samples of our Wymeswold Honey for pollen analysis each year.

Bees gather pollen as their protein food source, and whilst not all of these flowers yield nectar (which the bees turn into honey), understanding the range of species on which the bees are foraging is a strong indicator of whether the honey is monofloral or multifloral, and what characteristics it will have. Naturally, some of the pollen itself finds its way into our honey, which (through ingestion of these small quanities) is believed to help hayfever sufferers become desensitised, and to mitigate the effect of these pollens on their condition.

In any event, we are delighted to be able to share the results of our 2019 analysis, below. With 56 identified varieties, we have a truly wonderful, multifloral honey ... due in no small part to the locations of our apiaries, in the heart of the Charnwood countryside, and close to the River Soar.

Here's to 2020, and hoping that we can stick one in the eye of HJ Heinz, and get to or beyond 57 varieties :-)

Top 15 most abundant taxa in the sample

Complete list of taxa in the sample: