Bees are highly important to humankind. They carry pollen across plants and pollinate
crops. The honey they produce is highly nutritious. Pollen itself is a valuable marker of
paleoclimate – when preserved in undisturbed sediment (e.g., peat bogs) it holds a
wealth of information on past vegetation at that location.
Application note 41
Pollen, Bee’s Wax and Honey
Measurements
For more information on the LA IRMS method or instrumentation please contact:
sales@sercongroup.com or visit us at www.sercongroup.com
Scan Type Spot Size
(𝛍m)
Repetition Rate
(Hz)
Fluence
(Jcm-2
)
Scanning Speed
(𝛍m/s)
Ablation Time
(s)
Line scan 50 20 1 10 20
Helium was used as carrier gas (35 mLPM flow rate), corresponding to 18.3 PSI operating
pressure inside the ablation chamber. The furnace combustion temperature was set to 850° C,
the GC column was heated at 30° C. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) IAEA-C-3
cellulose (𝛅
13CPDB of 24.91 ‰) was used as standard (ablated using the same parameters as in
Table 1).
Figure 1. Microscope photograph of the ablation tracks left on honey.
100 𝛍m
Variations in the stable carbon isotope ratio (𝛅
13C) of pollen associations are dictated by the type
of plant (mainly C3 vs. C4) generating it. These variations are also found in the honey and wax
produced by bees. Stable carbon isotope analyses are a key component of official standard
procedures (ISCIRA, AOAC 991.41) for studies of honey adulteration.
