Developing the National Honey Monitoring Scheme as a framework for pesticide monitoring in support of the H4 indicators - 2021 honey samples

Woodcock, Ben A.; Dos Santos Pereira, Gloria; Sleep, Darren; Savage, Joanna; Pywell, Richard F.

Developing the National Honey Monitoring Scheme as a framework for pesticide monitoring in support of the H4 indicators - 2021 honey samples

Woodcock, Ben A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0300-9951; Dos Santos Pereira, Gloria ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3740-0019; Sleep, Darren ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1128-1883; Savage, Joanna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5280-5148; Pywell, Richard F. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6431-9959. 2022 Developing the National Honey Monitoring Scheme as a framework for pesticide monitoring in support of the H4 indicators - 2021 honey samples. UK, Defra, 36pp. (Unpublished)

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Abstract/Summary

Pollinating insects provide a crucial service to arable, horticultural, and gardening sectors, enhancing crop yields in the UK to the value of £0.5 billion. Wide scale declines in both domesticated (e.g. honeybee) and wild species (c. 250 species in the UK) have been reported. While the causes of these declines are likely complicated and attributable to a range of factors, exposure to synthetic pesticides has been widely proposed as a significant contributing effect. The outcome indicator framework providing metrics to quantify the success of policy aimed at delivering the 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP). Of these the H4 indicator is being developed to provide an assessment of both exposure and adverse effects of chemicals on wildlife in the environment. This report outlines the continued development of a H4 indicator tasked with monitoring pesticide exposure risk for insect pollinators using honeybees as a model system. The data source on pesticide exposure underpinning this indicator is derived from residue analysis of honey samples collected by beekeepers at a national scale though the UKCEH National Honey Monitoring Scheme (NHMS). This scheme has been running since 2018 and annually collects >1000 samples from across the UK. In 2021 a stratified sampling process across England was used to sub-set 100 of these honey samples from which residues of 89 insecticides, fungicides and herbicides were subsequently quantified using the QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective and Safe) method. These samples were split between those collected from arable and horticultural landscapes in May (number of samples [n] =50) and August (n=50) (n=80), as well controls from predominantly urban (n=10) and semi-natural (n=10) land uses. We compare these samples from 2021 to previous monitoring undertaken in 2019 and 2020. From 2021 additional pyrethroid insecticides were added to those quantified from the honey samples that had not previously been considered. These are excluded from any analysis of trends across years but aer included in assessments of risk from pesticides in 2021.

Item Type:

Publication - Report (Project Report)

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-24)
Pollution (Science Area 2017-24)

Funders/Sponsors:

Defra

Additional Information:

On publication, full text should be freely available from Defra website.

NORA Subject Terms:

Ecology and Environment

Date made live:

04 Dec 2025 13:08 +0 (UTC)