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Citizen Science:
To study honey is to study what a bee has taken in.
Melissopalynology is the study of pollen in honey.
Today, melissopalynology is recognized worldwide as being the least expensive and quickest way to determine the floral contents and geographical origin of honey. ( Bryant 2018)
Some of the methods to verify the plant origin of honey include: melissopalynology, sensory (look/taste/smell/feel), and physical/chemical parameters (electrical conductivity, DNA loci barcoding, chromotography, spectroscopy, and/or sugar composition). Honey can be identified as a single floral source honey if it tests within described-variability-ranges. Otherwise, the sample should be classi!ed as multi-floral honey.
Factors can influence the results of melissopalynology studies: pollen in the hive unrelated to the nectar source, contamination during uncapping/processing, and plant morphology. Many pollen types are over-represented or under-represented in different types of nectar. Honey bees may bring pollen from floral sources different from nectar into the hive during the same time period. Pollen analysis is still crucial for the authentication of the botanical origin of honey. To date, melissopalynology is the main technique able to discriminate between single floral and multi-floral honey, as well as the presence of honeydew. (Schievano et.al. 2016)
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