FAQs - Plant Identification in Honey and Pollen Samples

Honey bees forage for nectar and pollen to feed adults and larval bees respectively. Identifying preferred floral sources in honey and pollen samples can help beekeepers understand how best to maintain the overall health of their apiaries so that their bees can consistently produce high-quality products.

Honey, much like wine, has variations in color, aroma and taste depending on the plants where nectar was collected. During nectar collection, bees acquire pollen by coming in to contact with the reproductive (pistil & stamen) parts of the flower. When the total pollen count of the nectar or honey is at least 45% or more of a specific pollen type, that honey is considered monofloral (single plant source) honey. Depending on the plant source, some monofloral honey is considered more valuable than multifloral (many plant sources) honey – so understanding what pollen is in a honey is a key step! Visit the PA Beekeepers Association website to learn how to label and process honey.

Traditionally, pollen was identified by filtering honey samples to collect the pollen and then identifying the pollen grains under a microscope. This requires a trained scientist, known as a mellisopalynologist, who identifies pollen based on its size, shape and ornamentation. Currently, there are very few trained personnel or institutions that offer this service in the U.S.

The Grozinger Lab at Penn State recognized the lack of of resources available to Pennsylvania and national beekeepers for pollen identification. Similar to a mellisopalynologist, the Penn State HPDL separates the pollen from honey samples by a process known as centrifugation, take the collected pollen and extract the genetic material from the grains. Using a technique called nested PCR, a key piece of DNA is replicated for each plant source, tagged and identified using our data analysis pipeline. The outcome of this process is that we can identify to genus A. each major (above 1% total pollen) plant source in a sample as well as its B. total percentage in the sample.

Here are a few key important details to remember if you’re thinking about using our plant identification services.

• Pollen needs to be in a sample for the identification to work accurately and correctly. Pollen comes in many different sizes and shapes so we recommend collecting honey sample(s) before screening or other processing.
• If you prefer to send a screened, processed or commercial ready honey sample, please be sure to provide the full sample amount requested.
• Please read through our disclaimer before you submit samples so that you understand some of the limitations of the pollen identification process.
• When you are ready to collect a sample please fill out this short information sheet and provide your preferred method of contact here.

When we have your information, we will get in contact with you and mail out a sampling package with return address, the correct number of kits for each sample you plan to submit, a sample information sheet for each sample and instructions on how to collect the samples. When you have completed your collection with the provided instructions, please return the samples with the included return shipping.

When we receive your sample you will be notified by email or phone that it was received and in good condition. Your sample(s) information will be entered into our honey and pollen database so that it/they can be tracked throughout the pollen identification process. Because we need a minimum number of at least 100+ samples total to complete the identification process, samples received September through March are usually completed in 8-10 weeks. Samples received April through August may have up to a 12-16 week wait as we generally receive fewer samples during these months.

$82.77 per sample for PSU affiliates (PSU students, faculty, staff, alumni)
$131.11 per sample for others (non-PSU clients)

Please contact Dr. Michele Mansfield for more specific questions about pricing and for discounts on bulk sample submission -either as an individual or as a group for beekeeper groups & clubs.

Upon receiving your sample(s), you will receive an invoice from the PSU-HPDL and instructions on how to submit your payment.