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:
| Species scientific name | Common name |
|---|---|
| Rubus | Bramble |
| Trifolium repens | White Clover |
| Sinapis alba | White Mustard |
| Brassica rapa | Turnip |
| Filipendula ulmaria | Meadowsweet |
| Papaver rhoeas | Common Poppy |
| Lotus | Bird's-Foot-Trefoil |
| Lotus tenuis | Narrow-leaved Bird's-foot-trefoil |
| Brassica oleracea | Cabbage |
| Sambucus nigra | Elder |
| Impatiens glandulifera | Indian Balsam |
| Rubus silvaticus | |
| Centaurea nigra sens. lat. (=nigra/debauxii) | Common Knapweed |
| Brassica napus | Rape |
| Vicia faba | Broad Bean |
| Tilia cordata | Small-leaved Lime |
| Lotus ucrainicus | |
| Hypericum hircinum | Stinking Tutsan |
| Arctium minus | Lesser Burdock |
| Rubus kuleszae | |
| Lythrum salicaria | Purple-loosestrife |
| Rubus caesius | Dewberry |
| Tilia platyphyllos | Large-leaved Lime |
| Brassica juncea | Chinese Mustard |
| Scorzoneroides autumnalis | Autumn Hawkbit |
| Medicago sativa | Medick |
| Chamerion angustifolium | Rosebay Willowherb |
| Centaurea nigrescens | Tyrol knapweed |
| Urtica dioica | Common Nettle |
| Tilia | Lime |
| Ligustrum ovalifolium | Garden Privet |
| Lotus corniculatus | Common Bird's-foot-trefoil |
| Lotus alpinus | Alpine bird's-foot trefoil |
| Centaurea pectinata | |
| Cirsium arvense | Creeping Thistle |
| Jacobaea vulgaris | Common ragwort |
| Trifolium hybridum | Alsike Clover |
| Myosotis sylvatica | Wood Forget-me-not |
| Biota | |
| Trifolium pratense | Red Clover |
| Lotus pedunculatus | Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil |
| Brassicaceae | Crucifer |
| Rosa | Rose |
| Crepis capillaris | Smooth Hawk's-beard |
| Sonchus arvensis | Perennial Sow-thistle |
| Thalictrum minus | Lesser Meadow-rue |
| Sambucus | |
| Plantago major | Greater Plantain |
| Achillea millefolium | Yarrow |
| Salix triandra | Almond Willow |
| Verbascum thapsus | Great Mullein |
| Epilobium ciliatum | American Willowherb |
| Phleum pratense | Timothy |
| Erysiphe polygoni | |
| Brassica | |
| Silene dioica | Red Campion |
