> 
> Pat writes:
> >... pollen from a particular plant's blossom does not correspond to the
> amount of nectar ...
> 
> Thanks for bringing this up, Pat. My gut feeling was that the use of
> pollen to ID honey was all wrong but I had nothing to back up that
> feeling.

In the fair land of Australia the pollen and nectar can be totally
unrelated.  Many, if one did a count, maybe most, of our nectar trees are
pollen deficient.  They must of course produce pollen but they do not
support the continued existence of the hive, in fact bees are seldom
observed getting pollen from these trees, if ever. Friends lost half their
700 hives on a good honey flow, because the expected rain did not eventuate
and therefore neither did the pollen giving ground flora.  Our two most
reliable and regular honey trees on the eastern side are both pollen
deficient.  

Pollen content of the honey can indicate where it may have come from,
providing that pollen source is typical of the claimed area.

Geoff Manning   

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