Investigating the Antimicrobial Properties of Scottish Honey: A Citizen Science Approach

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Honey and other honey bee products have been used as medical treatments throughout history. Following research carried out from the 1970s, and an ongoing and highly successful marketing campaign by the New Zealand Government, manuka honey commands a premium price due to its 'proven' medical benefits. Nearly all of these benefits are due to the strong antimicrobial activity of manuka honey, which are measured in terms of unique manuka factor (UMF). A valuable industry has grown up around the medical benefits of manuka honey and it is the only honey currently used in human and veterinary medicine for wound healing. Wounds in humans and animals are often painful and healing may be delayed and be prone to complications, which are often due to infection. In medical and veterinary practice honey is routinely used, and dressings that contain medical-grade manuka honey have proven effectiveness for treating complicated wounds in people and animals. Due to the high cost and limited availability of manuka honey, there is interest from vets and doctors in identifying other sources of honey for use in wound healing, which could be used in both developed and low and middle income countries (LMICs). The ability to effectively treat wounds in the estimated 100 million working horses, donkeys and mules in LMICs using cheaper or even locally produced honey would create a huge improvement in animal and human welfare and significant socioeconomic benefits. Researchers at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies have investigated the antimicrobial effects of a range of honey from across the world, and a surprise result was that honey produced by bees foraging on Scottish heather plants were as effective at inhibiting the growth of common wound microbes as manuka honey. A number of other studies are beginning to support this observation, and we would like to investigate a wider range of Scottish honey, sourced and tested with support from a team of citizen scientists, to confirm the potential antimicrobial activity of heather honey. The citizen scientists involved in the project will come from beekeeping associations and secondary schools with apiaries from across Scotland, and will take part in a two-day, laboratory-based workshop at the Easter Bush Science Outreach Centre at the University of Edinburgh. We will use and compare different experimental methods to test the antimicrobial properties of honey samples from their own hives and control samples, and also analyse the moisture and pollen content of the honey samples. The results of these experiments will create a new set of data that can be used by scientists and clinicians at the University of Edinburgh to plan further citizen science and research projects. The citizen scientists will also provide feedback on a new educational toolkit "Honey for Horses", created as part of the project to support secondary school teachers to develop investigations with their pupils into the antimicrobial properties of honey. This toolkit will be made freely available online at the end of the project for use in secondary schools.