Hello Skip,
Skip wrote:
>So how do you recommend we learn to identify exactly
> what plants the pollen and honey in our hives originated from?

The officers of the Midwestern Beekeepers assn. of which I am current vice
president and former three term president feel id of pollen and honey plants
is very important. As did the beekeepers of our club before us. We set aside
a certain portion of each meeting to discuss the above. We also elect a
"honey plants" person to give a report at each meeting. The honey plants
person brings in samples of various plants each month and those plants are
passed around for all members to look at.
We also take the time to explain the color of the pollen produced by each
plant.

Our club was started in 1946 ( we have had a monthly meeting every month for
56 years without a miss) and  each year we have had a honey plants person.
For decades the honey plants commitee met each month to discuss "honey
plants" in addition to our regular meeting (not meeting at present time )

I do not know if you have got a beekeeping club in your area Skip but they
are a excellent way to learn about the honey and pollen producing plants in
your area.

In todays beekeeping with large areas of bee forage being lost yearly one
needs to be aware of the honey and pollen producing plants in your area.
Pick the brains of those older beekeepers (before they are all gone!).

Skip wrote:
 I can  understand if one is marketing varietal honeys that he/she should be
able to  state with a fair degree of accuracy where the honey came from, but
does the  pollen really matter?

Probabbly not but if you observe your hives on a regular basis you will most
times know the source of the pollen the bees are storing.

 Each pollen is a different color but at times many are close to the same
color. Pine pollen and dandelion pollen can be difficult to tell apart by
looks so you need to catch a worker  at the entrance with your fingers and
strip a pollen and taste the pollen. The flavor is very different. I could
fill a book on the subject.

My previous post only backed up the post by Lynn Lang on her observation
that bees do gather and store ragweed pollen. Because ragweed pollen is at
the top of the list for pollen allergies I find raw honey with ragweed
pollen suspended  to be the most effective honey for helping those with
allergy problems.

Most overprocessed store honey (not all store honey is overprocessed)has had
all the pollen filtered out and is *useless* for allergies but still tastes
great on pancakes! Buy the overprocessed honey for your pancakes if you want
but hunt up local unprocessed honey for help with allergies.

Excellent questions Skip!

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison