UK honeybees have an extremely varied diet, foraging on a selection of more than 1,000 different plant species, a pioneering analysis of honey samples has found.

Around 200 beekeepers from across the UK provided honey samples for high-tech DNA testing. The results revealed that bees feed on a wide variety of commonly found crops, wildflowers and garden plants including Oilseed rape, Clovers, Brambles and Sweet Chestnut. It has also found invasive non-native species to be important sources of pollen and nectar, particularly Himalayan Balsam and ‘Tree of Heaven’.

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