Honey Plants and Their Pollen
23.09.2026 - 30.10.2026
Lihula manorWith this exhibition, author Mirjam Vaan presents pollen grains that she encountered while conducting pollen analyses of honey as part of her master’s thesis. To help visitors recognise which plant a particular pollen taxon may belong to, microscope photographs are accompanied by images of the corresponding honey plants. This makes it possible to see the flowers from which bees collect pollen.
Pollen is identified based on the characteristics of the grain’s outer wall – its size, shape and number of apertures. Based on pollen morphology, or external structure, it is often impossible to identify grains to the exact species level, as many plants have very similar pollen. Although some species can be identified precisely, pollen is often grouped more broadly in research – at the genus, family or pollen-type level, following the classification of Hans-Jürgen Beug (Beug, 2021).
The exhibition features the following pollen taxa: broad bean (Vicia faba), cornflower (Centaurea cyanus), amaranths (Amaranthaceae), willowherb (Epilobium), lacy phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), goat’s rue type (Galega officinalis-type), buckwheat (Fagopyrum), meadowsweet (Filipendula), crucifers (Brassicaceae), thistle (Cirsium) and red clover type (Trifolium pratense-type).
The author would like to express her heartfelt thanks to Margret Jürison from the Estonian University of Life Sciences, who was a great help in compiling the photographs of honey plants and photographed the broad bean and lacy phacelia plants. This exhibition is supported by the Pollen Laboratory of the Estonian University of Life Sciences. For further information about pollen and pollen research, the contact person is Vivika Väli, e-mail: vivika.vali@emu.ee.
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