NHMS Newsletter: March 2022
Hello! I hope this newsletter finds you well. Spring is upon us and the 1st batch of NHMS 2022 sample packs are on their way to those of you who have so far requested them. Please do not forget to request yours for this year. We do not send out packs automatically. Below is a reminder of what to do.
Requesting a sample pack:
Create an online user account on our website https://honey-monitoring.ac.uk. This only needs to be done once and enables us to have an account we can report your results to. We also ask for your address so we can send sample packs to you. No personal data is ever shared.
Log on and visit your 'Taking part' tab, click on ‘request a sample pack’ and follow the instructions to create a submission. We only ask a couple of questions, importantly location, to enable a pack request. This needs to be done every time you desire a new sample pack.
Currently we allow 2 samples/beekeeper a year and the 1st needs to be returned before the 2nd sample pack can be dispatched. This second sample could be from an alternative location if you wish.
Details on how to collect a sample are included within each sample pack (also, https://honey-monitoring.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/nhms-2022-sample-pack-letter). It is worth looking at our FAQs and more recent news items for information too.
Cut off dates for 2022
Sample pack requests: Friday 7th October
Sample packs can be requested at any time however, those after the October cut-off date will not be sent out until the following year.
Sample pack returns: Friday 4th November
Any samples arriving after this date will be archived only. Unused sample packs can be kept and used in any subsequent year.
Results for 2021 samples
DNA extractions are completed and preparation of the metabarcode sequence libraries is well underway. There are some pesky samples that are refusing to PCR and I am a little behind as Covid knocked me out for a few weeks! Still, I anticipate that results will be ready to distribute to you in May or June.
Questions?
Please visit our FAQs page (https://honey-monitoring.ac.uk/taking-part/faq) or email honey@ceh.ac.uk.
Best wishes,
Anna
Dr Anna Oliver and the NHMS Team
