Pollen Analysis (Melissopalynology)
Lexikon
Pollen analysis, technically also called melissopalynology, is a microscopic examination method used to verify the botanical and geographical origin of honey.
Pollen analysis, technically also called melissopalynology, is a microscopic examination method used to verify the botanical and geographical origin of honey. Because bees unintentionally also take up tiny pollen grains when collecting nectar, and these remain in the honey, the pollen spectrum of a honey documents which plants the bees actually visited and can thus be used as proof of varietal and origin claims.
For the examination, a honey sample is dissolved in water, the pollen it contains is separated by centrifuging, and it is placed as a thin sediment on a microscope slide. Under the microscope, several hundred pollen grains are then counted at high magnification and assigned to the respective plant species, so that in the end the percentage shares of the individual pollen types in the honey are obtained. Besides identifying pollen, other components can also be recognized under the microscope, such as characteristic elements of honeydew honey or yeasts that can indicate the start of fermentation.
For beekeepers and testing laboratories, pollen analysis is an important tool for proving or disproving varietal names such as rapeseed honey or linden honey as well as regional claims of origin. A common misconception is to draw direct conclusions about the actual share of a nectar source from the pollen share alone, because different plant species produce different amounts of pollen, so experts always evaluate the results of pollen analysis together with sensory and physico-chemical characteristics.