# Floral testing



## Creed bee (Sep 3, 2013)

Hi all,

Toying around with the idea of getting my honey tested for floral source. Can any of you all recommend a service?

Thank you in advance.

Creed


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

I do not know where to send them But you can buy a Microscope and Pollen chart. There are several charts you will want the one for the area where you have hives. Obviously a pollen chart form Australia will do you no good. All pollen has different shapes and characteristics. That's how I do it.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I sent some granulted honey to Dr. Bryant at Texas A&M, and the results found 60 kinds of pollen, several unknown with no determination of the honey source.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

I've attempted to use a microscope to evaluate pollen. I've had limited success.

The problems I've encountered are:

1) Finding a reasonably complete guide to identifying local pollen. Even if I do find photo micrographs on line, there are so many methods used to stain and suspend it on a slide, my pollen may look different if I don't match the method.

2) Pollen can deteriorate rapidly. It grows mold quickly, and can render it a fuzzy mess. Pollen already stored in cells is there to ferment. If you collect pollen directly from flowers for your own ID guide, get it under the microscope fast, before the fuzz grows.

The good news is, suitable microscopes are available and can be very affordable, and you can get cheap digital cameras for them, or adapt a digital camera. E-bay has some fine older instruments, dirt cheap.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

At U of Guelph, at an EAS years ago, I got to visit the lab. They centrifuged honey and looked at the pollen. The sample was predominantly Linden. Also, I met a gentleman in the UK whose job it was to sample honey...to determine origin...local, imported, etc. He used the same method. 

So, it's possible, but you have to have the correct tools.


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## GaSteve (Apr 28, 2004)

I believe Dr. Paul Arnold at Young Harris College in north GA still does this. Not a hard process - mix the honey with warm water to dilute, centrifuge to concentrate the solids, view sample of solids under a decent microscope, then match with a picture in a guide book. Sometimes closely related plants have very similar looking pollen which can make it hard to discriminate. Also, I have heard that some pollens seem to be consistently "undersampled". For example, your honey might actually be 80% variety X, but a pollen count may only show 40% pollen X. Not sure why this occurs - maybe the structure of the flowers, amount of pollen available in the flowers, etc.


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