DETERMINATION OF THE BOTANICAL COMPOSITION OF HONEY BY MELISSOPALINOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Honey is a natural, healthy product obtained by honey bees from flower nectar or honeydew. They collect and process it, adding specific bee substances and storing them in honeycombs in the hive. Honey is a product of both plant and animal (bee) origin. Bees produce flower honey from the nectar of flowering plants and honeydew from the sweet secretions of plants or insects. The study of honey's botanical composition allows us to determine its type and assess its quality. In addition, determining plant components bees consume allows us to judge their food preferences and the availability of food resources in a particular region. Our study aimed to determine honey's botanical composition from an ecologically clean, protected area of Northern Kazakhstan using melissopalinological analysis. In total, 1181 pollen types (41%) were found in all honey samples at the family level, 877 at the genus level (30.4%), and 824 at the species level (28.6%). The dominant plant families in the honey samples were Fabaceae (Leguminosae), Asteraceae (Compositae), Polygonaceae, and Boraginaceae. At the genus level, Helianthus, Fagopyrum, Echium, Brassica, and Onobrychis accounted for the most significant