bob harrison wrote:.

A USDA rep told me they could put a honey smear under a microscope and tell
exactly the source of most U.S. honeys as each pollen grain is different as is
each snowflake.


Pollen analysis is, at best, an incomplete method for analysing nectar sources.
Nectar production bears no relation to pollen availability. Nectar may also be
sourced from extra floral nectaries and from insects (honey-dew). Even fruit may
be sucked for sweetness and converted to honey. There are plants that produce
copious amounts of nectar and hardly any pollen, while certain pollen sources
have hardly any nectar available. Bees working both types at once, for example,
could provide a skewed opinion on the source of the honey, should pollen analysis
be used as definitive test.

Robert Post
.