Placed in a Global Overview of Literature on Honey Identification. Book Review: El-Labban, M. Beekeeper’s Guide for Pollen Identification of Honey, 2nd ed.; Northern Bee Books: Hebden Bridge, UK, 2023; ISBN: 978-9953-0-5184-0

Melissopalynology, the study of honey, is a flourishing area within palynological research. The quality of honey is assessed on the basis of several physical characteristics, such as consistency, taste, smell, and contamination by fungal spores (yeasts) and charcoal particles. By matching the pollen grains to the parent plants, the source area of honey may be identified. A salient difference from palynological studies is that pollen from honey is not acetolyzed before the pollen grains have been examined under a light microscope (LM). As a consequence, the LM photographs of pollen grains from honey may be blurred by the surrounding protoplasm. Mohammed El-Labban published a second edition of his impressive Beekeepers’ guide for pollen identification of honey [1], in which 495 species of honey plants are shown. The identification of pollen grains is based on comparing and matching the unacetolyzed pollen grains in honey with pollen grains in the nectar collected from well-identified plants. In the absence of sufficient information about pollen ornamentation (sculpture), beekeepers have developed their own methods of pollen identification. The photographs of pollen grains are presented in four size categories, and within these categories, pollen types are arranged by shape: triangular, round, elongated, and ‘other shapes’. A map based on data from Kew Garden shows the approximate world distribution of honey plants. An interesting addition for palynologists is that information about the flowering season, the frequency of bee visits, and (in a website) plant-specific literature is also provided. The book consists of an introduction (pages 7 to 44); colour photographs and distribution maps of 495 species of honey plants and their pollen grains (pages 45 to 295); an index of Latin plant names (pages 296 to 309); and an index of common names of plants (pages 310 to 321). The LM photographs of unacetolyzed pollen grains are of high quality and the experienced pollen morphologist may recognize a good deal of the pollen ornamentation.

Considering honey pollen identification manuals on a global scale, this book is remarkably complete and concise. The following publications deal with honey plants and their pollen grains: Asperges et al. [2], with a focus on Belgium (illustrating the pollen grains and plants of 161 species); Bambara and Leidy [3], with a focus on the Eastern United States (illustrating the pollen grains of 37 species); Barth [4], with a focus on Brazil (illustrating the pollen grains of 88 species); Bucher et al. [5], with a focus on southern Tirol and northern Italy (illustrating the pollen grains of 165 species); Clemson [6], with focus on Southeast Australia (illustrating 298 species of honey plants, but no pollen grains); Crompton and Wojtas [7], with a focus on Canada (the pollen grains of 188 species are SEM-illustrated and 192 species are LM-illustrated); Hodges [8], with a focus on southern England (illustrating the pollen grains of 143 species); Jones et al. [9], with a focus on the Southeastern United States (illustrating the pollen grains of 398 species); Maurizio et al. [10], without a geographical focus; Neve and Van der Ham [11], with a focus on the Netherlands (the pollen grains and plants of 240 species are illustrated as line drawings); Ricciardelli D’Albore [12], with a focus on the Mediterranean (illustrating the pollen grains of 218 species); Sawyer [13], with a focus on Britain (illustrating the pollen grains of 161 species); Sun, G. [14], with a focus on China (illustrating the pollen grains of 90 species); Van der Ham et al. [15], with a focus on The Netherlands (illustrating the pollen grains of 204 bee plants); and Ahman et al. [16], with an unspecified focus (113 species of honey flowers are shown with photographs of the flower, the unacetolyzed pollen grain, and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of the pollen grain). According to Ahman et al. [16], there are some 500 major honey plants on a global scale; a number that comes close to the 495 taxa illustrated in El Labban’s manual. The SEM images in Ahman et al. [16] suggest that beekeepers are now more interested in examining the pollen morphology of honey plants more thoroughly.

El Labban’s book [1] is well organized, compact, and full of information. The author is to be congratulated for having produced one of the most relevant pollen identification manuals for melissopalynologists. This book is also of value for archaeologists and paleoecologists where honey contributes to their research objectives. This book is warmly recommended to a broad audience working with pollen as proxy information.