What Is a Honey Pollen Analysis?

The pollen in honey reveals its source.

Bees make honey from flower nectar and some pollen grains end up in the honey. A honey pollen analysis determines which flowers produced the nectar.

Origins

Flowers have the pollen-carrying anthers close to their source of nectar. This means some pollens rubs off onto the bee from each flower they visit. Some pollen also falls into the nectar. Honey also contains a small amount of pollen from other sources, but the majority comes from flowers the bee visited.

Information Revealed

A honey pollen analysis is necessary for the correct labeling of honey as it shows the source of the nectar. Different flowers result in different flavors of honey. Organic honey must come mainly from organically grown flowers and a pollen analysis confirms this.

Procedure

A simple honey pollen analysis involves estimating the total number of pollen grains in the sample. This in itself provides useful information. More detailed analysis requires the main pollen grains to be identified, which shows exactly what species of flowers provided the honey.

References

• Virginia Tech: Honey
• Plant Biotec Blog: Honey Bees, Nectar and Pollen