SC State Beekeepers Association

Education & Advocacy for SC Beekeepers

South Carolina Statewide Honey Pollen Analysis Project

Overview:

The over-arching question the South Carolina (SC) Honey Pollen Analysis Project is seeking to answer is: “What plants are bees using and when?” The answer to this question has been pursued through a collaboration between SC beekeepers and a team of three melissopalynologists (scientists who analyze pollen in honey samples). This project is funded by a grant from the SC Department of Agriculture, commencing in Fall 2021 and to be completed by September 2024. South Carolina is the first state to conduct such an analysis statewide!

Goals:

The specific goals of the South Carolina Honey Pollen Analysis Project are three-fold.

  1. Determine WHAT plants are nectar sources for honeybees by region across the state of SC via analysis of pollen from collected honey.
  2. Determine WHEN these nectar plants bloom across the state by regular, routine collection of honey samples for one calendar year.
  3. Determine WHETHER the Maple (Acer) bloom (end of January/early February) is both a pollen source and a honey/nectar source.

Project Timeline:

09/2021 – 12/31/2021Defined primary and backup beekeepers to collect honey samples (15 local associations, 19 sites).  Assigned honey samples to analysts according to honey collection sites.  
01/2022 – 12/2022Collected honey from colonies during the nectar flows and checked/collected nectar as available during the nectar dearth.
06/2022 – 01/2023Processed all honey samples and began their analysis.
01/2023 – 12/2023Completed analyses of pollen in honey samples.Analyzed pollen data and constructed tables illustrating results.
Presented preliminary results to beekeepers at regional meetings.
1/2024 – 8/2024Publish one article in the scientific journal Palynology.
Publish an article for publication in Bee Culture. CLICK HERE to View.
Conducting a survey of SC beekeepers to estimate the impact the Project has had in the region.
Writing a book to be published by Clemson University Press (both in paper and online formats) to give access to the Project’s results to the SC beekeeping community.

The South Carolina Honey Pollen Analysis Project is funded by an award from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture and was made possible

by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agriculture Marketing Service through Specialty Crop Block Program grant, 21SCBPSC1010.