Using honeybees for national scale long-term eDNA biomonitoring

Abstract

As central place foragers, bees integrate information over large spatial scales on diet and pollutant exposure, offering insights into environmental impacts on their populations. Data from bee biomonitoring has strong applied and policy relevance, particularly when conducted over extensive spatial and temporal scales. However, practical challenges have limited large-scale sustainable implementation of such monitoring networks beyond relatively small-scale experimental studies. This paper describes the creation of a national, citizen science–led honeybee biomonitoring platform. Citizen scientist beekeepers provide biological samples at a national scale that would be cost prohibitive to replicate using conventional sampling strategies. Environmental DNA (eDNA) within honey allows quantification of spatial and temporal patterns in foraging resources. From 2018–2025, over 3,500 beekeepers have contributed 5,789 honey samples from across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Most samples are collected between May and October and originate from intensively managed agricultural land (54% land use cover), urban and suburban areas (25%), forests (13%), and extensively managed landscapes (8%). eDNA analyses from 2018–2022 reveal strong temporal and spatial variation in plant resource use. Brassicas (wild and crop species such as oilseed rape), clovers (Trifolium spp.), and brambles (Rubus spp.) dominate honeybee diets, alongside notable use of invasive plants. Large-scale, long-term monitoring of floral resource use by honeybees establishes a benchmark for assessing resource availability to wider pollinator communities. The scheme provides data to interpret land-use change, agri-environmental policy outcomes, and climate-driven shifts in flowering resources. Archived honey samples also support future research on invasive species, bee pathogens, and chemical (including pesticide) exposure. The combination of citizen science and eDNA methods enables cost-effective, nationwide ecological monitoring at a scale unattainable through traditional approaches.