NHMS Newsletter: Update May, 2020
Dear Beekeepers,
On behalf of the National Honey Monitoring Scheme (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology), I hope you and your loved ones are all well and staying safe. I would also like to thank you for your continued support. We have had approximately 750 pack requests so far this year despite everything that has been going on which is amazing.
I just wanted to give an important update with regards to NHMS 2020. You will be pleased to hear that we will be dispatching all outstanding pack requests over the next few weeks. Please be patient though as there are almost 300 to prepare and send.
We can also announce that sample tubes can now be returned to us using the stamped addressed envelope in your sample pack. Once we have received your samples your sample status will change from ‘Pack sent’ to ‘Sample received'. Once this happens those of you who wish to send in 2 samples can request another pack via the website.
Please ensure that the sample submission details are correct, including the date of sample collection. Remember that we require honey ‘snapshots in time’. Therefore, they need to be collected direct from the comb and, if known, from your most recently capped honey. We are observing -of the 2019 data- clear forage patterns from spring through to autumn and is exactly what we hoped to gain through our sampling strategy. We will be scoring samples for the presence of comb and any that appear to be from processed honey will not be included in our analyses.
I would also like to encourage the completion of additional hive health questions. It provides us with useful data regarding honeybee heath which can be analysed alongside forage behaviour. Although not required for sample submission, the more who participate the better our data will be.
If you have any further questions please email honey@ceh.ac.uk.
With very best wishes,
Dr Anna Oliver
Molecular Biologist, NHMS
